How to add a whole column in Excel

When just starting out people often find themselves wondering how to add a whole column in Excel. Usually, a formula only applies to a range of cells, not the entire column.

This is simple to achieve and I will show you two quick methods on how to do it: one with a formula, the other using Excel’s Status bar.

How to add an entire column in Excel using a formula

  1. Select the cell where you want to insert the sum
  2. Type =SUM(
  3. Select the entire column by clicking on the column letter
  4. Type ) to finish the formula and hit Enter

In the example shown, the formula in D2 is =SUM(B:B). This sums up all values from column B.

How to add a whole column in Excel

How to add a column of numbers in Excel using the Status bar

The second option is to use the Status bar. This is useful when you just want a quick glance at the total sum of values, rather than actually calculating the sum using a formula.

  1. Select the entire column by clicking on the column letter
  2. Check the Sum field from the Status bar
How to add an entire column in Excel

Note: Be careful when referencing an entire column. While it may be useful to include all values in your formulas, this approach is prone to errors. If you accidentally insert a value anywhere in that column, it will be added to your result.

I hope this article showed you exactly how to add a whole column in Excel. However, in case you still have questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.

About me

My name is Radu Meghes, and I'm the owner of excelexplained.com. Over the past 15+ years, I have been using Microsoft Excel in my day-to-day job. I’ve worked as an investment and business analyst, and Excel has always been my most powerful weapon. Its flexibility and complexity make it a highly demanded skill for finance employees. I launched excelexplained.com back in 2017, and it has become a trusted source for Excel tutorials for hundreds of thousands of people each year.

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