Choosy Moms Use “Choose”

Having a Choice is (as Martha Stewart would say) “a good thing”. Nested IF functions can be very useful, but they have limitations (the maximum nested functions is 7) and they are cumbersome.

Happily, there is an alternative choice to using these awkward IF functions: The CHOOSE function to the rescue! The Choose function is straightforward and simple to use, plus it can be combined with other Excel features to make it even more powerful! The function returns a value from a list based on a given position (Index Number).

Here is the uncomplicated syntax:

Choose( Index_Number, Value1, Value2, ... Value_n )

Some examples are as follows:

=Choose(3, “Apples”, “Pears”, “Plums”, “Cherries”) returns Plums

It also works with ranges:

=Sum(Choose(2, A1:A20, B1:B20, C1:C20) returns the Sum of B1:B20

You can, of course, link it to the value in a cell, which makes it more flexible. For example, you could link it to A1 which contains the Index_Number.

If A1 contains the number 4, then =Choose(A1, “Apples”, “Pears”, “Plums”, “Cherries”) would return Cherries.

The Choose function can handle up to 29 options, which makes it a great choice in many real-life situations. Give it a try and find out why Choosy Moms Use “Choose”.