Google Sheets Formulas
In this article, you will learn how to use the MODE formula in Google Sheets. The mode number (in math) means the most frequent figures in a data set. For example, if you have a set of numbers such as {1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5}, the mode is 4 as it appears three times in the data set, and others do equal to or less than two times. The MODE function helps you find the mode in a series of numbers.
The generic formula is as follows:
Value 1: A set of data based on which you want to figure out the mode number.
Let’s see some examples. Imagine you review five customer rates given to four types of products:
(i) Mode by product
This is simple. You can just select a part of the column for each product. For example, the MODE formula in cell C10 (for Product A) contains a range of C4:C8, specifically 5, 4, 5, 4, and 5, and you get 5. However, see a column for Product C containing 2, 3, 5, 3, and 2. There are two 2s and two 3s, so the answer should be 2 and 3 for this part of the column. Here is a weak point of the MODE function. A set of data likely contains more than one of the most frequent figures, but the MODE function can return only one of them. If you don’t know the most frequent number in a data set, you should use MODE.MULT formula instead. (You can type “=MODE.MULT” or find the formula just beneath the MODE function in the formula list). You can use this function as the MODE function in data input. This function returns all mode figures in a data series (if any). Look at the second “Mode by product” section. You can see all mode numbers show up.Remember to secure enough cells for the number of anticipated values. You can insert rows and columns later so the formula can show all answers.
(ii) Mode across Product A and C
This example might be a little tricky. As mentioned above, if you want to select non-adjacent fields as a data set, you can use a comma(s). Select a part of the column for Product A (C4:C8), add a comma, and select a part of the column for Product C (E4:E8). The group of numbers contains {5, 4, 5, 4, 5, 2, 3, 5, 3, 2}, and thus, the most frequent number is 5. Therefore, the mode is 5.
(iii) Mode across all products
As you can see in the screenshot, you can select a table as a set of data which include twenty figures for all product. In this case, we don’t know how many of the most frequent numbers there are in the data set, so let’s use MODE.MULT formula instead of MODE function.
If you are interested in finding the mean and median in a set of numbers in Google Sheets, you can use the AVERAGE and MEDIAN functions. Check this page for the AVERAGE formula and this post for the MEDIAN formula.
If you don’t get the solution you are looking for in this article, or you have further questions related to mathematics or statistics, you may find the answers in the following articles.
Go to the following articles to learn basic formulas in Google Sheets.
How to Do Math in Google Sheets for Beginners
ADD Function in Google Sheets: Explained
MINUS Function in Google Sheets: Explained
DIVIDE Function in Google Sheets: Explained
MULTIPLY Function in Google Sheets: Explained
PRODUCT Function in Google Sheets: Explained
How to Use SUM Function in Google Sheets
How to Use SUMPRODUCT Formula in Google Sheets
How to Use MAX Function in Google Sheets
How to Use MIN Function in Google Sheets
How to Use MEDIAN Function in Google Sheets
How to Use AVERAGE Formula in Google Sheets
MOD Function in Google Sheets: Explained
Navigate to the pages below to learn how to sum, count, or average numbers with a condition or multiple conditions.
How to Use SUMIF Function in Google Sheets - sum up the numbers that meet a criterion
SUMIFS Function in Google Sheets: Explained - sum up the numbers that meet multiple criteria
How to Use COUNTIF Function in Google Sheets - count the number of cells that meet a requirement
How to Use COUNTIFS function in Google Sheets - count the number of cells that meet multiple requirements
AVERAGEIF Function in Google Sheets: Explained - average the figures that meet a standard
AVERAGEIFS Function in Google Sheets: Explained - average the figures that meet multiple standards
AVERAGE.WEIGHTED Function in Google Sheets: Explained - use this formula to calculate the weighted average
MAXIFS Function in Google Sheets: Explained - seek for the maximum value that meets specific criteria
MINIFS Function in Google Sheets: Explained - seek for the minimum value that meets specific criteria
Visit the following post if you are interested in learning how to count the number of specific cells.
COUNT Function in Google Sheets: Explained - count the number of cells containing numeric values (except for blank ones)
COUNTA Function in Google Sheets: Explained - count the number of cells incorporating all types of values containing text and date, except for blank ones
COUNTBLANK Function in Google Sheets: Explained - count the number of blank cells
COUNTUNIQUE Function in Google Sheets: Explained - count the number of unique cells
You can learn about other Google Sheets formulas and tips that are not mentioned here on this page: LiveFlow‘s How to Guides
Are you learning this formula to visualize financial data, build a financial model, or conduct financial analysis? In that case, LiveFlow may help you automate manual workflows and update numbers in real-time. You can access various financial templates on our website, from the simple Income Statement to Multi-Currency Consolidated Financial Statement. You can also customize these templates as you want without breaking the automated data inflow.
To learn more about LiveFlow, book a demo.
Learn how to do this step-by-step in the video below 👇
