#VALUE! Error in SUMIF: Complete Troubleshooting Guide

#VALUE!

+SUMIF

# Understanding #VALUE! in SUMIF The SUMIF formula is one of Excel's most powerful tools for conditional summation, yet it's also a frequent source of frustration when the #VALUE! error appears. This error typically signals that Excel cannot process the criteria or sum_range argument as expected, often due to incompatible data types, malformed text criteria, or references to invalid cells. Common culprits include mixing text and numbers in your criteria, using unstable date formats, or accidentally including non-numeric values in your sum range. The good news? #VALUE! errors in SUMIF are entirely preventable and straightforward to fix once you understand what triggers them. This guide walks you through the most common causes of this error and provides practical solutions to get your formulas working correctly. Whether you're dealing with formatting issues or logical missteps, you'll quickly identify and resolve the problem.

Why SUMIF causes #VALUE!

Non-numeric values in sum_range

The sum_range parameter contains text, errors, or mixed data types that cannot be added together. SUMIF attempts to sum these non-numeric values, triggering #VALUE!.

=SUMIF(A2:A10,"Completed",B2:B10) where column B contains text like "$1,200" (formatted as text, not numbers) or error values

Invalid criteria with logical operators

The criteria parameter uses comparison operators (>, <, >=, <=) concatenated incorrectly or without proper quotation, causing Excel to evaluate an invalid expression that returns an error.

=SUMIF(A2:A10,>100,B2:B10) where the criteria lacks quotes; should be =SUMIF(A2:A10,">100",B2:B10)

Mismatched range and sum_range dimensions

The range and sum_range parameters have different numbers of rows or columns, causing SUMIF to fail when trying to map criteria matches to values for summing.

=SUMIF(A2:A10,"Yes",B2:B15) where range is 9 rows but sum_range is 14 rows, creating a dimension mismatch

Step-by-Step Solution

1Click on the cell displaying the #VALUE! error to select it and view the complete formula in the formula bar (Ctrl+` to toggle formula view if needed)
2Examine the formula syntax: verify it follows =SUMIF(range, criteria, sum_range) with exactly three arguments separated by commas
3Check the criteria argument for text formatting issues—ensure text criteria are enclosed in quotes (e.g., "Sales" not Sales) and remove any extra spaces using TRIM() if needed
4Verify the sum_range argument contains only numeric values; if it includes text, dates, or mixed data types, convert or isolate numeric cells using helper columns
5Confirm the range argument is a valid continuous range without blank rows or merged cells that could disrupt the lookup; use Ctrl+Shift+End to identify data boundaries
6If criteria references a cell containing an error (like #N/A or #DIV/0!), wrap that cell reference in IFERROR() to return a valid value: =SUMIF(range, IFERROR(criteria_cell, ""), sum_range)
7Test the corrected formula by pressing Enter; if the error persists, replace SUMIF with SUMIFS and explicitly define each argument to isolate the problem source
8Document your fix by adding a comment (Ctrl+Alt+C) explaining the data type or formatting issue you resolved for future reference

Concrete Example

Sales commission calculation by region

A finance manager uses SUMIF to calculate total sales commissions for each region. The spreadsheet contains sales data with regions in column A and commission amounts in column B.

Before (error)

=SUMIF(A:A,"North",B:B)

After (fixed)

=SUMIF(A:A,"North",B:B)+SUMPRODUCT((A:A="North")*(IFERROR(VALUE(B:B),0)))

Problem: The #VALUE! error appears because some commission cells contain text values like 'Pending' or 'N/A' mixed with numeric values, causing SUMIF to fail when trying to sum non-numeric data.

Solution: Use SUMIFS with error handling or convert all commission values to numbers. Replace text placeholders with 0 or use IFERROR to handle non-numeric entries before the SUMIF calculation.

Prevention Tip

Ensure your criteria argument is a single cell reference or a text string in quotes (not a range), and verify that your sum_range contains only numeric values—text or blank cells in the range will cause #VALUE! errors.

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