Three ways to find minimum values — MIN for the lowest, SMALL for Nth lowest, MINIFS for conditional minimums.
=MIN(A2:A100)
-- Returns the single smallest value in the range
-- Ignores text and blanks=SMALL(array, k)
=SMALL(A2:A100, 1) -- smallest (same as MIN)
=SMALL(A2:A100, 2) -- 2nd smallest
=SMALL(A2:A100, 5) -- 5th smallestUse SMALL for bottom rankings — lowest 3 scores, cheapest 5 options, slowest delivery times.
=MINIFS(min_range, criteria_range1, criteria1, ...)
=MINIFS(B2:B100, A2:A100, "North")
-- Smallest value in B where A = "North"
=MINIFS(C2:C100, A2:A100, "Q3", B2:B100, ">0")
-- Smallest positive value in C for Q3Cheapest product in a category:
=MINIFS(price_col, category_col, "Electronics")
Earliest date for a specific status:
=MINIFS(date_col, status_col, "Completed")
Lowest score excluding zeros (students who didn't sit):
=MINIFS(score_col, score_col, ">0")| Question | Function |
|---|---|
| Lowest value overall? | MIN |
| 3rd lowest value? | SMALL(range, 3) |
| Lowest value in a category? | MINIFS |
| Earliest date in a range? | MIN (dates are numbers) |
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