General Description
The IFERROR function in Excel is a powerful tool that helps manage errors in calculations and data analysis. Instead of displaying a standard error message (such as #DIV/0!, #N/A, or #VALUE!), IFERROR allows users to return a specified value or perform an alternative calculation in the event of an error. This makes data presentations cleaner and helps maintain the integrity of reports and analysis.
Syntax
The syntax for the IFERROR function is as follows:
IFERROR(value, value_if_error)
🧑‍💻 Where:
- value is the expression or formula you want to evaluate for an error.
- value_if_error is the value you want to return if the formula results in an error.
Example
Let’s say you have a spreadsheet that calculates the average sales for a set of employees, and you want to avoid displaying error messages when there are no sales to calculate. For instance, in column A, we have the employee names, and in column B, we have the sales amounts. If there’s a chance that the sales amount can be zero or empty, using IFERROR will help in maintaining a decent appearance of your results.
The formula to calculate the average sales without showing errors would look like this:
=IFERROR(AVERAGE(B2:B10), "No sales data available")đź“Ś Here:
- B2:B10 is the range of sales data for employees.
- If there are errors in calculating the average (for example, if there are no sales), the displayed result will be “No sales data available” instead of an error message.