32 New Excel Functions: Uses and Examples (Ranked by Practicality)


In the data-driven era, Excel has become an essential tool for data analysis and management. This article provides an in-depth introduction to 32 new Excel functions with practical examples. These new functions cover data reshaping, filtering, text processing, and custom calculations, helping users improve efficiency and accuracy in data handling. Whether you are a professional analyst or a regular user, these new Excel functions will help you work more flexibly with data and make data analysis simpler and more efficient.

No. 1: Pivotby function

Function: Pivot data using formulas, supporting multiple columns and tables to pivot sales (column C) by city (column A) and product (column B).

Example:

=pivotby(A1:A10,B1:B10,C1:C10,Sum,3)
Column AColumn BColumn C
CityProductSales
BeijingA100
BeijingB150
ShanghaiA200
ShanghaiB250
BeijingA300
ShanghaiB400
ShanghaiA50
BeijingB80

Result:

CityProductSales
BeijingA400
BeijingB230
ShanghaiA250
ShanghaiB650

No. 2: Groupby function

Function: Summarize by category using formulas, supporting multiple columns and tables to aggregate sales (column C) by city (column A) and product (column B).

Example:

=Groupby(A1:B10,C1:C10,Sum,3)
Column AColumn BColumn C
CityProductSales
BeijingA100
BeijingB150
ShanghaiA200
ShanghaiB250

Result:

CityProductSales
BeijingA400
BeijingB230
ShanghaiA250
ShanghaiB650

No. 3: Regexextract function

Function: Extract all integers from text using regular expressions.

Example:

=Regexextract(A1,"\d+")
Column A
Content
My phone number is 1234567890

Result:

Extracted integers
1234567890

No. 4: Filter function

Function: One-to-many filtering — filter all rows for the Finance department (column A).

Example:

=Filter(A1:F100,A1:A100="財務")
Column AColumn BColumn CColumn DColumn EColumn F
DepartmentNamePositionSalaryAgeRegion
FinanceZhang SanManager800035Beijing
HRLi SiSpecialist500028Shanghai
FinanceWang WuAssistant600030Guangzhou

Result:

DepartmentNamePositionSalaryAgeRegion
FinanceZhang SanManager800035Beijing
FinanceWang WuAssistant600030Guangzhou

5th: Vstack function

FunctionCombine multiple sheets: merge sheets for months 1–12

Example:

=Vstack('1月:12月'!A1:B100)
Column AColumn B
MonthSales
Jan1000
Feb1500

Result:

MonthSales
Jan1000
Feb1500
Mar1800
Apr2000

6th: Xlookup function

FunctionMulti-criteria lookup, lookup from bottom to top: retrieve Education (column D) by Department (column A) and Name (column B)

Example:

=Xlookup("財務部"&"張三",A1:A10&B1:B10,D1:D10)
Column AColumn BColumn D
DepartmentNameEducation
Finance DepartmentZhang SanMaster's
HR DepartmentLi SiBachelor's

Result:

Education
Master's

Rank 7: Textjoin function

Function: Join multiple values with a delimiter; join the values in A1:A10 with -

Example:

=Textjoin("-",,A1:A10)
Column A
Value
One
Two
Three

Result:

Joined result
One-Two-Three

Rank 8: Textsplit function

Function: Split a string into multiple values by a delimiter; split 'Zhang San-male-20' in cell A1 into three cells.

Example:

=Textsplit(A1,"-")
Column A
Content
Zhang San-male-20

Result:

NameGenderAge
Zhang SanMale20

Rank 9: Textbefore function

Function: Extract the content before a character; extract the province name before '省'.

Example:

=Textbefore(A1,"省")
Column A
Content
Guangdong Province

Result:

Province
Guangdong

Rank 10: Textafter function

Function: Extract the content after a character; extract the detailed address after '市'.

Example:

=Textafter(A1,"市")
Column A
Content
Guangzhou City Tianhe District

Result:

Detailed address
Tianhe District

Rank 11: Unique function

Function: Extract a list of unique values; extract unique company names from column A.

Example:

=Unique(A:A)
Column A
Company Name
Company A
Company B
Company A

Result:

Unique company names
Company A
Company B

Rank 12: Sort function

Function: Sort the table — sort by the table's 3rd column in descending order

Example:

=SORT(A1:D10,3,-1)
Column AColumn BColumn CColumn D
NameTypeQuantityPrice
Product 1Category A1020
Product 2Category B550

Result:

Column AColumn BColumn CColumn D
Product 1Category A1020
Product 2Category B550

No. 13: SortBy function

Function: Multi-column sort — sort the table by columns C and D in ascending order

Example:

=SORTBY(A2:D11,C2:C11,1,D2:D11,1)
Column AColumn BColumn CColumn D
NameTypeQuantityPrice
Product 1Category A1020
Product 2Category B550

Result:

Column AColumn BColumn CColumn D
Product 2Category B550
Product 1Category A1020

No. 14: Tocol function

Function: Convert multiple-column values into a single column — convert range A1:F10 into one column

Example:

=Tocol(A1:F10)
Column AColumn BColumn CColumn DColumn EColumn F
123456
789101112
131415161718

Result:

Result
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

No. 15: ToRow function

Function: Convert multiple-column values into a single row — convert range A1:F10 into one row

Example:

=ToRow(A1:F10)
Column AColumn BColumn CColumn DColumn EColumn F
123456
789101112
131415161718

Result:

Result
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

No. 16: Hstack function

Function: Horizontally combine multiple tables — merge columns A, C, and F into a new table

Example:

=Hstack(A1:A10,C1:C10,F1:F10)
Column AColumn CColumn F
136
247
589

Result:

Result
136
247
589

No. 17: ChooseCols function

Function: Extract specific columns from a table — extract columns 1, 2, and 5

Example:

=ChooseCols(A1:G10,1,2,5)
Column AColumn BColumn CColumn DColumn EColumn FColumn G
1234567
891011121314

Result:

ResultColumn 1Column 2Column 5
125
8912

No. 18: ChooseRows function

Function: Extract specific rows from a table — extract rows 1, 2, and 5

Example:

=ChooseRows(A1:G10,1,2,5)
Column AColumn BColumn CColumn DColumn EColumn FColumn G
1234567
891011121314

Result:

ResultRow 1Row 2Row 5
1234
891011

No. 19: Drop function

Function: Remove rows or columns from a table — remove the table's first row

Example:

=Drop(A1:A100,1)
Column A
1
2
3

Result:

Result
2
3

No. 20: Take function

Function: Take the first N rows or columns from a table — take the table's first 10 rows

Example:

=Take(A1:F100,10)
Column AColumn BColumn CColumn DColumn EColumn F
123456
789101112

Result:

ResultColumn 1Column 2Column 3Column 4Column 5Column 6
123456
789101112

No. 21: Arraytotext function

Function: Join characters or numbers with commas — join the values in A1:A10 with commas

Example:

=Arraytotext(A1:A10)
Column A
1
2
3
4
5

Result:

Result
1, 2, 3, 4, 5

No. 22: Concat function

Function: Concatenate characters or numbers — concatenate the values in A1:A10

Example:

=Concat(A1:A10)
Column A
1
2
3
4
5

Result:

Result
1 2 3 4 5

No. 23: Sequence function

Function: Generate a sequence — generate even numbers from 1~10

Example:

=Sequence(5,,2,2)

Result:

Result
2
4
6
8
10

No. 24: Regexreplace function

Function: Replace characters using a regular expression — replace the digits in A1 with 100

Example:

=Regexreplace(A1,"\d+",100)
Column A
123

Result:

Result
100

No. 25: Regextest function

Function: Use a regular expression to check for inclusion — determine whether A1 contains digits

Example:

=Regexextract(A1,"\\d+")
Column A
abc123

Result:

Result
123

No. 26: Lambda function

Function: Custom function — define a function that adds two numbers

Example:=Lambda(x,y,x+y)

Result:

 

Result
3

No. 27: Reduce function

Function: Iterate over each value in an array and accumulate the result — sum the positive numbers in A1:A10

Example:

=Reduce(0,A1:A10,Lambda(x,y,IF(y>0,x+y,x)))
Column A
1
-1
2
3

Result:

Result
6

No. 28: Scan function

Function: Same operation pattern as Reduce but preserves each intermediate result — sum the positive numbers in A1:A10 and return the running totals

Example:

=Scan(0,A1:A10,Lambda(x,y,IF(y>0,x+y,x)))
Column A
1
-1
2
3

Result:

Result
1
1
3
6

No. 29: Map function

Function: Process each value in an array and return each result — replace blank values in A1:A10 with the character '零'.

Example:

=Map(A1:A10,Lambda(X,IF(X=0,"零",X)))
Column A
1
0
2

Result:

Result
1
Zero
2

No. 30: Let function

Function: Define names to simplify formulas — evaluate a Vlookup result

Example:

=Let(x,Vlookup(D1,A:B,2,0),IF(x>10,"完成","未完成"))
Column AColumn B
115
25

Result:

Result
Completed

No. 31: Byrow function

Function: Perform calculations across each row and return each row's average for the range

Example:=Byrow(B2:F5,AVERAGE)

Column BColumn CColumn DColumn EColumn F
12345
678910

Result:

Result
3
8

No. 32: ByCol function

Function: Perform calculations on each column and return multiple results — return each column's average for the range

Example:

=ByCol(B2:F5,AVERAGE)
Column BColumn CColumn DColumn EColumn F
12345
678910

Result:

Result
3.5
4.5
5.5
6.5
7.5

This article summarizes the functionality and usage examples of 32 Excel functions. From basic data-restructuring functions like Tocol and ToRow to more advanced custom functions such as Lambda and Reduce, these functions demonstrate Excel's powerful data-processing capabilities. By using them, users can manipulate data more flexibly to meet diverse analysis needs. As Excel continues to evolve, mastering these functions will help users go further in data analysis and fully leverage Excel's potential.


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