The Excel AREAS Function

Function Description

The Excel Areas function takes an Excel reference and returns the number of areas that make up the reference.

The syntax of the function is:

AREAS( reference )

Where the reference argument can be a standard Excel reference (or list of references), or a named range.

If the reference argument is input directly, the different areas of cells should be entered as a list, separated by commas and surrounded by brackets. This is shown in the examples below.

Excel Areas Function Example 1

The following spreadsheet shows three simple examples of the Excel Areas function, where the reference argument is input directly, as a list of areas.

Formulas:

	A
1	=AREAS( C1:E2 )
2	=AREAS( ( C1:E2, B3:B5 ) )
3	=AREAS( ( B2, C1:E3, D1:E5 ) )

Results:

	A
1	1
2	2
3	3

Excel Areas Function Example 2

The following spreadsheet shows an example of the AREAS function, in which the supplied reference is a named range (called 'TestRange'), which is made up of the 3 areas shown on the 'Formula' spreadsheet below.

As shown in the 'Result' spreadsheet, the Areas function returns the result 3.

Formula:

	A	B	C	D	E
1	=AREAS( TestRange )
2
3
4
5
6

('TestRange' is the named range ( B1:C4, E1:E2, D5:E6 ) )

Result:

	A
1	3
2
3
4
5
6

For further details and examples of the Excel Areas function, see the Microsoft Office website.

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