Shortcut to open the insert function dialog box

To open the Insert Function dialog box, press Shift + F3. To start the Formula Builder dialog box on a Mac, use the Fn + Shift + F3 shortcut.

Windows Shortcut

Shift F3

Mac shortcut

Fn Shift ⌘

Excel has hundreds of built-in functions. If you want to find the proper function, the Insert Function command will help.

How to open the insert function dialog box

1. Select the cell where you want to add a function or formula in the example, A5.

Select the cell where you want to add a function or formula

2. Click on the Ribbon and select the Formulas tab

Click on the Ribbon and select the Formulas Tab

3. Click on the Insert Function to open the Insert Function dialog box

open the insert function dialog box

3. Type a brief description of what you want to do and click Go to find the function. You can use another method to use built-in functions. Choose a category and select the function you want to use.

find the function

4. Select the function and click OK

click on the selected function

5. The Function Arguments dialog box will appear. In this place, you can specify the arguments for your selected function.

 Function Arguments dialog box

6. Add argument(s) to the function. In the example, you want to use the AVERAGE function to calculate the average of the numbers in range A2:A4.

7. Click OK to close the dialog box and get the result.

Additional resources

Istvan Vozar

Istvan is the co-founder of Visual Analytics. He helps people reach the top in Excel.