Deriving High and Low Non-Zero Values

There may be times when you need to derive the smallest (or largest) value from a range, unless the smallest (or largest) value is zero. For instance, you might have a range of values such as {0, 3, 1, 4, 2}. In this case, the lowest value is zero, but the value you really want returned is 1.

There is no intrinsic function within Excel to return a value as stipulated here. However, you can create a formula that will do the trick. Assuming that the range of values you want to analyze are in C4:C8, the following formula will return the lowest non-zero value:

=IF(MIN(C4:C8)=0,SMALL(C4:C8,COUNTIF(C4:C8,"=0")+1),MIN(C4:C8))

This formula uses the MIN function to determine if the lowest value in the range is zero. If it is, then the SMALL function is used to derive the lowest value, excluding the zeros. (The COUNTIF function returns the number of zeros in the range, and therefore tells SMALL which item from the range to pick.)

A small change to the formula allows it to be used to return the largest non-zero number in a range:

=IF(MAX(C4:C8)=0,LARGE(C4:C8,COUNTIF(C4:C8,"=0")+1),MAX(C4:C8))

These formulas will work for any range, unless the range is made up entirely of zeros. In that instance, a #NUM! error is returned.

If you are using Excel 2019 or Excel in Office 365, you can use the new MINIFS function. It would be used in this manner for this example:

=MINIFS(C4:C8,C4:C8,"<>"&0)

More information on the MINIFS function can be found on this Microsoft Office support page:

https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/minifs-function-6ca1ddaa-079b-4e74-80cc-72eef32e6599

If you prefer to use array formulas, then you can make the formula much shorter. This version returns the lowest non-zero value:

=MIN(IF(C4:C8=0,9^9,C4:C8))

Remember to enter it using Ctrl+Shift+Enter. It also suffers from a problem if all the values in the range are 0; in that case it returns 387420489, which is 9^9. (It would also return that value if all the values in the range were greater than 387420489.)

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9750) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Deriving High and Low Non-Zero Values.