The MAX is an Excel statistical function that returns the largest number in a set of values. It will ignore logical and text values. It is one of the oldest Excel functions, so it can be used even with Excel 2003.
If you want to include logical values, you’ll need to use the MAXA function.
MAX Syntax
MAX(number1, [number2], ...)
Required Arguments
number1: Arguments can either be numbers or names, arrays, or references that contain numbers, which means 5, A2 and C4:C8 are all valid examples.
Optional Arguments
number2-255: You can use up to 255 numbers in the calculation by following the syntax listed above.
Note: If the argument does not contain any numbers, it will return 0.
MAX Function Examples
Get the Larger Number of Two Values
MAX can be used to compare two numbers in a table and return the larger one. For example, if you want to compare last year’s sales volume to this year’s for every employee and get the larger value. I’ve added an example screenshot below.
You can also write this as =MAX(C6, D6).
Get the Largest Number from a Range
In many cases, you might need to find the largest number from a range in an Excel sheet. If we continue with the sales volume analogy, you can use the MAX function to return the highest monthly sales per employee.
Using MAX with Mixed Values
The MAX function can also be used with mixed arguments. For
More Examples and Use Cases
We don’t have any use cases for this formula on our website at this moment but will link them below once we have. Stay tuned!