The AVERAGE worksheet function lets you enter up to 30 numbers (arguments), separated by commas, to average. But what if you have more than 30 numbers to average? In that case, enter the numbers in a range of cells, and then use a reference to the range with the AVERAGE function.

For example, if you have 50 numbers to average, you could type the numbers in cells A1 through E10. You could then use the following formula to average all 50 numbers:

=AVERAGE(A1:E10)

You can use the same strategy with other functions that are limited to 30 arguments, such as SUM or COUNT. A reference to a range of numbers is considered a single argument, regardless of how many numbers are in the range.

For more information about the AVERAGE function, type average function in the Office Assistant or on the Answer Wizard tab in the Excel Help window, and then click Search.