How to calculate the sum of squares in Excel

Finding the sum of the squares in Microsoft Excel can be a repetitive task. The most obvious formula requires a lot of data entry, although there is a lesser-known option that will get you in the same place.

Find the sum of squares for multiple cells

Start a new column somewhere in an Excel spreadsheet and label it. Here we will perform the solution of our squares. The squares don̵

7;t have to be next to each other, any more than the output area; it can be anywhere on the page.

Type the following formula in the first cell of the new column:

=SUMSQ(

From here you can add the letter and number combination of the column and row manually or just click on it with the mouse. We use the mouse, which automatically fills this part of the formula with cell A2.

Add a comma and then we’ll add the next number, this time starting from B2. Just type B2 in the formula or click the appropriate cell to auto-fill it.

Close the parenthesis and press “Enter” on the keyboard to display the sum of both squares. Alternatively, if you can go through with this, you can add additional cells by separating them with commas within the formula.

To apply the formula to additional cells, look for the small filled square in the cell that contains the solution to our first problem. In this example it is C2.

Click on the square and drag it to the last row of number pairs to automatically add the sum of the rest of the squares.

Find the sum of the squares for just a few cells

In our “Sum of Squares” column that we created in the previous example, C2 in this case, start typing the following formula:

=SUM((A2)^2,(A3)^2)

Alternatively, we can just add the numbers in place of the cells to the formula as we end up in the same place in both ways. That formula looks like this:

=SUM((9)^2, (29)^2)

You can change these formulas as you need, change the cells, add extra numbers, or find the sum of squares that are not even in your workbook. And while it’s easier to follow the tutorial above, using the SUMSQ formula, to find the solution for multiple squares, it’s often easier to just type a quick formula like this if it’s not something you’re in. will repeat the whole workbook.