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.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 8, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
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.
Best-Selling VBA Tutorial for Beginners Take your Excel knowledge to the next level. With a little background in VBA programming, you can go well beyond basic spreadsheets and functions. Use macros to reduce errors, save time, and integrate with other Microsoft applications. Fully updated for the latest version of Office 365. Check out Microsoft 365 Excel VBA Programming For Dummies today!
Excel makes it easy to concatenate (or combine) different values into a single cell. If you need to combine a different ...
Discover MoreIf you have a lot of values in a single row, you might want to pull the last non-zero value from that row. There are a ...
Discover MoreDiscovering different ways to analyze your data can be a challenge. Here's how to work with arbitrary subsets of a large ...
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.
Comments