Excel MAX Function

Summary

The Excel MAX function returns the largest numeric value in a range of values. The MAX function ignores empty cells, the logical values TRUE and FALSE, and text values.

Purpose

Get the largest value

Return value

The largest value in the array.

Syntax

=MAX (number1, [number2], ...)

Arguments

number1 - Number, reference to numeric value, or range that contains numeric values.
number2 - [optional] Number, reference to numeric value, or range that contains numeric values.

Usage notes

The MAX function can be used to return the largest value from a set of data. For example, the slowest time in a race, the hightest temperature, or the top sales number. Arguments can be provided as constants, or as cell references or ranges, for example:

=MAX(5,10)=MAX(A1,A2,A3)-MAX(A1:A10)

Notes:

The MAX function ignores empty cells.
The MAX function in current versions of Excel accepts up to 255 arguments. If arguments contain no numbers, MAX returns 0.
Arguments can be provided as numbers, names, arrays, or references that contain numbers.
The MAX function ignores TRUE and FALSE values, and numbers entered as text, unless they are typed directly into the list of arguments.
To include logical values in a reference, see the MAXA function.