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.

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.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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