Excel: LARGE & SMALL Functions

LARGE

LARGE function in Excel returns numeric values based on their position in a list when sorted by value. In other words, it can retrieve "nth largest" values - 1st largest value, 2nd largest value, 3rd largest value, etc. The LARGE function is useful when you want to retrieve the nth highest value from a set of data — for example, the first, second, third or fourth highest scores for a test. Returns the k-th largest value in a data set. You can use this function to select a value based on its relative standing.

Arguments of LARGE Function are:

array - The array from which you want to select the kth largest value.

n - An integer that specifies the position from the largest value, i.e. the nth position.

SMALL

SMALL function in Excel returns numeric values based on their position in a list ranked by value. In other words, it can retrive "nth smallest" values - 1st smallest value, 2nd smallest value, 3rd smallest value, etc. The SMALL function is useful when you want to retrieve the nth lowest value from a set of data — for example, the first, second, or third fastest times in a race, as seen in the screenshot above.

Arguments of SMALL Function are:

array - A range of cells from which to extract smallest values.

n - An integer that specifies the position from the smallest value, i.e. the nth position.