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Excel basics quiz questions and answers

20 questions on the Excel skills people use every day: SUM and IF, cell references, VLOOKUP, the error codes and a few limits only the power users know.

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Excel basics quiz illustration

Run this before an Excel training session, or drop it into a team meeting when you want to find out who really knows their way around a spreadsheet. The questions stay close to daily work: the functions people type most, what the dollar signs do, why a cell shows hashes and what #NAME? is trying to tell you. The last five get harder and will separate the casual users from the ones who build the reports. Twenty questions take about 16 minutes.

How to run it

  1. Play it at the start of the session, not the end. Each wrong answer on the leaderboard shows you which topic needs the longest explanation.
  2. After question 9, pause and ask the room when COUNT and COUNTA gave them a different total. Most teams have a story about a report that was off by a few rows.
  3. Questions 16 to 20 are the hard ones. Keep question 20, the character limit of a cell, as your tie-breaker and ask for the closest guess.

Questions and answers

  1. 1Which function adds up the numbers in a range of cells?Easy

    • ASUM
    • BADD
    • CTOTAL
    • DPLUS
    Reveal answer

    A. SUM

    SUM adds values. You can give it single cells, ranges or a mix of both, so =SUM(A1:A10) totals ten cells in one go. It is the function most people learn first.

  2. 2Every Excel formula starts with which character?Easy

    • AAn at sign (@)
    • BAn equal sign (=)
    • CA hash (#)
    • DA colon (:)
    Reveal answer

    B. An equal sign (=)

    Type the equal sign first, then the numbers, cell references and operators. Without it, Excel treats what you typed as plain text and does no maths at all.

  3. 3What does the cell reference C4 point to?Easy

    • AThe cell in row C, column 4
    • BThe fourth worksheet
    • CThe cell in column C, row 4
    • DFour cells starting at C
    Reveal answer

    C. The cell in column C, row 4

    Columns get letters and rows get numbers, so a reference is always letter first. B2 sits where column B meets row 2, and C4 where column C meets row 4.

  4. 4Which function returns the average of a range?Easy

    • AMEAN
    • BAVERAGE
    • CMEDIAN
    • DMIDDLE
    Reveal answer

    B. AVERAGE

    AVERAGE returns the arithmetic mean: it adds the values and divides by how many there are. MEDIAN is a real function too, but it gives the middle value, not the mean.

  5. 5In the reference $A$1, what do the dollar signs do?Medium

    • AFormat the cell as currency
    • BAdd up the whole of column A
    • CLock the first row on screen
    • DKeep the reference fixed when you copy the formula
    Reveal answer

    D. Keep the reference fixed when you copy the formula

    The dollar signs make an absolute reference. Copy or fill the formula anywhere and it still points at A1. Without them, Excel shifts the reference as the formula moves.

  6. 6Where does VLOOKUP look for the value you give it?Medium

    • AIn the first column of the table
    • BIn the last column of the table
    • CIn the header row
    • DIn any column, left or right
    Reveal answer

    A. In the first column of the table

    VLOOKUP searches down the first column of the range, then moves across the matching row to return a value. If your lookup column sits to the right, you need to move it first.

  7. 7True or false: the #DIV/0! error appears when a formula divides by zero or by an empty cell.Easy

    • ATrue
    • BFalse
    Reveal answer

    A. True

    Excel cannot divide by zero, and it treats an empty cell as zero. Point the divisor at a cell with a value, or wrap the formula in IFERROR to show your own text instead.

  8. 8A cell shows ##### instead of a number. What does that usually mean?Medium

    • AThe formula has a typo
    • BThe column is too narrow to show the value
    • CThe cell is locked
    • DThe number is too large for Excel
    Reveal answer

    B. The column is too narrow to show the value

    The value is fine, it just does not fit. Drag the right edge of the column header to widen it. A negative date or time shows the same hashes.

  9. 9Which function counts how many cells in a range contain numbers?Medium

    • ACOUNTA
    • BCOUNTBLANK
    • CCOUNT
    • DCOUNTIF
    Reveal answer

    C. COUNT

    COUNT only counts numbers. COUNTA counts every cell that is not empty, including text. Mixing the two is a common reason a report is off by a few rows.

  10. 10Which function returns one value if a test is true and another if it is false?Easy

    • AIF
    • BCHOOSE
    • CSWITCH
    • DTEST
    Reveal answer

    A. IF

    IF takes three parts: the test, the result when true and the result when false. =IF(A1 100,"High","Low") labels a figure in one line.

  11. 11Which function returns today's date, without the time?Medium

    • ANOW
    • BDATE
    • CTODAY
    • DDAY
    Reveal answer

    C. TODAY

    TODAY gives the current date and updates each time the sheet recalculates. NOW adds the time of day, and DAY only pulls the day number out of a date.

  12. 12Which function returns the largest value in a range?Easy

    • ABIG
    • BTOP
    • CHIGHEST
    • DMAX
    Reveal answer

    D. MAX

    MAX returns the maximum value in a list, and MIN does the opposite. Both ignore text and empty cells, so a stray label in the range will not break them.

  13. 13Which function removes extra spaces from text, leaving single spaces between words?Medium

    • ACLEAN
    • BSTRIP
    • CSQUASH
    • DTRIM
    Reveal answer

    D. TRIM

    TRIM strips leading, trailing and doubled spaces. It is the fix for data pasted from the web that refuses to match in a lookup. CLEAN removes non-printing characters instead.

  14. 14True or false: one Excel workbook can hold several worksheets.Easy

    • ATrue
    • BFalse
    Reveal answer

    A. True

    The workbook is the file. The worksheets are the tabs along the bottom. You can insert, rename, move and copy them, so one file can carry a whole year of monthly sheets.

  15. 15What does the formula =2^3 return?Medium

    • A6
    • B8
    • C9
    • D23
    Reveal answer

    B. 8

    The caret raises a number to a power, so 2^3 is 2 times 2 times 2. Excel works out exponents before multiplication and addition, the same order you learned at school.

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Questions about this template

Which version of Excel does the quiz cover?

Any recent one. The functions, references and error codes have not changed since Excel 2007, and the limits in the hard questions match Microsoft's published specifications for current Excel. Every answer is checked against two sources, and each one links to the Microsoft Support page.

Can I run it in a training room or on a video call?

Yes. Press Go live, share the PIN or QR code on the screen, and people answer on their phones. The leaderboard appears after each question. The free plan covers 100 players in a session.

Do players need Excel open, or an app?

Neither. Players open the link or scan the code in a browser, type the PIN and a name, and play. Only the host needs a RiLiFi account.

Can I add questions about our own spreadsheets?

Yes. Use this template to make a copy, then add questions about the files, named ranges or macros your team works with, and remove any that do not fit.

Sources

Every answer shown here was checked against two sources, listed below. Links last checked 27 October 2026.

  1. SUM function | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  2. Excel functions (alphabetical) | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  3. Overview of formulas in Excel | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  4. Create a simple formula in Excel | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  5. Switch between relative, absolute, and mixed references | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  6. AVERAGE function | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  7. VLOOKUP function | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  8. How to correct a #DIV/0! error | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  9. IFERROR function | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  10. How to correct a ##### error | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  11. Detect formula errors in Excel | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  12. COUNT function | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  13. IF function | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  14. TODAY function | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  15. MAX function | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  16. TRIM function | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  17. Insert or delete a worksheet | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  18. Move or copy worksheets or worksheet data | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com
  19. Calculation operators and precedence in Excel | Microsoft Supportsupport.microsoft.com

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