Excel’s Best-Kept Secret: The LET Function

If you work with Excel regularly, you’ve probably encountered complex formulas that become difficult to read, debug, and optimize. That’s where Excel’s LET function comes in—a hidden gem that can simplify your formulas, improve performance, and make your spreadsheets more efficient.

What Is the LET Function?

Introduced in Excel 365 and Excel 2021, the LET function allows you to assign names to values or calculations within a formula. This means you can reuse values multiple times without repeating calculations, making your formulas more readable and faster.

Syntax:

LET(name1, value1, [name2, value2], …, calculation)

• name1, name2, etc.: Variables that store values or calculations.
• value1, value2, etc.: The values assigned to the variables.
• calculation: The final formula using the defined variables.

Why Use LET?

✅ Improves Performance

If your formula repeats the same calculation multiple times, Excel recalculates it every time. With LET, you define it once and reuse it, making the sheet run much faster.

✅ Enhances Readability

Complex formulas with repeated elements can be hard to understand. LET helps by breaking down parts of your formula into named variables, making it easier to follow.

✅ Simplifies Troubleshooting

When debugging formulas, having named values makes it much easier to identify errors or tweak calculations.

Example: Before and After LET

Without LET (Traditional Formula)

Imagine calculating the average of two numbers and then dividing it by a third number:

=(A1 + A2) / 2 / A3

While simple, this formula repeats (A1 + A2) / 2, which can be inefficient for larger calculations.

With LET Function

=LET(Avg, (A1 + A2) / 2, Avg / A3)

Here, Avg stores the result of (A1 + A2) / 2, and we reuse it. This makes the formula more efficient and easier to read.

Advanced Example: Using LET with IF Statements

Say we want to calculate a discounted price based on a condition:

=IF(A1>100, A1*0.9, A1)

With LET, we can simplify and reuse A1:

=LET(price, A1, IF(price > 100, price * 0.9, price))

This makes it easier to follow and modify later.

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