Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Summing Only Positive Values.
Alma has a worksheet that has a column of data containing both positive and negative values. She would like to sum only the positive values in the column and is wondering if there is a way to do it.
Fortunately Excel provides a convenient worksheet function you can use for just this purpose. Suppose, for instance, that all the values were in column A. In a different column you could enter the following formula:
=SUMIF(A:A,">0")
The SUMIF function returns a sum of all values in the range (A:A) that meet the criteria specified (>0). Any other values—those less than or equal to 0—are not included in the sum.
If you don't want to use SUMIF on an entire column, a simple modification in the range being evaluated can be made:
=SUMIF(A1:A100,">0")
Here only the range of A1:A100 is being evaluated and included in the sum.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10654) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Summing Only Positive Values.
Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!
When working with large amounts of data, it is a good idea to make sure that the data all consistently follows a pattern. ...
Discover MoreIf you have a large amount of data in a worksheet and you want to extract information from the text that meets certain ...
Discover MoreIf you want to add up the contents of a range of cells based on what is contained in a different range of cells, you need ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: 
Comments