Excel lowest number in a column, row or range
If you use spreadsheets regularly you may be interested in knowing the lowest number in a column, row or range in Excel. There are a few ways to achieve this, ranked from best to worst (our opinion)
MIN Function
Make use of the MIN (click to view video clip) function. For the MIN function all you need to do is type in =MIN( and then point to the cell/s that you are wanting to compare). The result of this will be the lowest number Excel can find.
SMALL function
Another useful function is the SMALL function. It is similar to the MIN function except with SMALL you can specify which how small e.g. do you want the smallest number, or the second smallest etc.
Customise the Status Bar
The bar at the very bottom of Excel is called the status bar (if you highlight 2 cells with numbers in a SUM will appear in this bar). You can use it to get the minimum as well. Right click on the status bar and switch on you Minimum option. Now when you highlight a number of cells it will show you the Minimum of the cells selected
Data Sort
You can use Data sort in ascending order to find the smallest. The problem is if all the numbers you are looking at are not in the same column.