MAX

Purpose

• Returns the largest number in a set of numbers

Example

• Here is a screenshot, for reference:

• Notice that:
  • The maximum value of both ranges (1000) was returned
  • "Number 5000" was not returned, as Excel reads this information as text
    • When a cell has text combined with numerical values, Excel will always read the contents as text
    • This is somewhat of a universal rule in Excel
  • The number 10000 (in cell E5) was also not returned, as it is also formatted as text
    • As this illustration shows, you can indeed format numbers to be read as text

Syntax

• =MAX(number1, number2, etc.)

Arguments

• number1
  • This is the first set of data from which the maximum value will be determined
  • This can be a hard-coded number, (single or multiple) cell range, or calculation
• number2 [optional]
  • This is the second set of data from which the maximum value will be determined
  • This argument has the same properties as number1
• The pattern continues (for up to 255 numbers for later versions of Excel)
  • All future arguments are optional
  • All future arguments have the same properties as number1

External Links

• Microsoft: MAX Function