Average a range, average only the rows that match a condition, and handle the blanks-versus-zeros problem that quietly changes the answer.
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=AVERAGE(C2:C500)Click the cell where you want the average, type that, and press Enter. It skips blank cells but counts zeros, and that difference changes the answer more often than people expect.
AVERAGE(range) totals the numbers and divides by how many there are, skipping blanks and text but counting zeros. AVERAGEIF(criteria range, criteria, average range) averages only matching rows. The blank-versus-zero distinction is where most surprising averages come from.
No, blanks are skipped entirely. Zeros, however, are counted, so a column where missing data was entered as 0 will average lower than one where it was left empty. Same data, different answer, and nothing warns you.
Nothing in the range is a number. Either the range is empty, or the values are numbers stored as text. AVERAGEIF returns the same error when no rows match the criteria.
Median when the distribution is skewed. One enormous project in a list of small ones pulls the mean somewhere no actual project sits, which is why average deal size and typical deal size are often very different numbers.
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