SUMIF Returns 0? The 6 Fixes (Excel & Google Sheets)

Your SUMIF returns 0 — but the numbers are RIGHT THERE? This is the only video you need. We fix all 6 real reasons SUMIF (and SUMIFS) returns 0 or the wrong total, live and step by step, in BOTH Excel and Google Sheets — including the silent one that even pros miss. Timestamps 00:00 SUMIF returns 0? Start here — 6 fixes (Excel & Google Sheets) 00:42 The 6 causes, ranked (#6 is the one nobody checks) 01:09 Fix 1 — Amounts stored as text (convert with VALUE, x1, or Convert to Number) 02:04 Fix 2 — Hidden spaces (prove it with LEN, fix with TRIM) 02:56 Fix 3 — Criteria written wrong (put operators in quotes; join a cell with an ampersand) 03:49 Halfway — 3 of 6 down 04:05 Fix 4 — Type mismatch (text vs number; coerce with TEXT or an empty-string join) 04:59 Fix 5 — Ranges don't line up (same start, same size) 05:40 Fix 6 — sum_range silently stretches (the one nobody checks) 06:34 Bonus — SUMIFS, wildcards (* and ?) and the whole IF family 07:31 Screenshot-this flowchart + what's next The 6 reasons SUMIF returns 0 1) Amounts are stored as text — SUMIF can't add text. Convert them to real numbers. 2) Hidden / trailing spaces in the criteria — strip them with TRIM (use SUBSTITUTE / CHAR(160) for non-breaking spaces). 3) Criteria written wrong — a comparison operator must be wrapped in quotes (like a "greater-than 200" rule); to compare against a cell, join the operator to it with an ampersand. An unquoted operator errors out — it does NOT return 0. 4) Type mismatch — a number criterion won't match text codes. Coerce with TEXT() or an empty-string join (use DATEVALUE for dates). 5) Ranges don't line up — the criteria range and the sum range must start on the same row and be the same size. 6) sum_range silently auto-extends — in Excel, SUMIF resizes the sum range to match the first range from its top-left corner, summing the wrong cells with no error. (Google Sheets throws a size-mismatch error instead.) Make both ranges the same size. Bonus: SUMIFS for multiple conditions (the argument order flips — the sum range comes FIRST), wildcards * and ?, and the same rules drive COUNTIF, AVERAGEIF and MAXIFS. Works in Excel and Google Sheets. Subscribe for more 2-minute spreadsheet fixes. Next up: VLOOKUP returns #N/A — the 6 fixes. #Excel #GoogleSheets #SUMIF