MODE
Statistical
Returns the most frequently occurring value in a dataset.
Translations
EnglishMODE
FrenchMODE
SpanishMODA
GermanMODALWERT
ItalianMODA
PortugueseMODO
DutchMODUS
PolishWYST.NAJCZĘŚCIEJ
RussianМОДА
TurkishENÇOK_OLAN
CzechMODE
HungarianMÓDUSZ
SwedishTYPVÄRDE
DanishHYPPIGST
FinnishMOODI
Syntax
MODE(number1, [number2], ...)Arguments
number1First number or rangenumber2Additional numbers(optional)
Examples
=MODE(1,2,2,3,3,3)3
3 appears most often
=MODE(A1:A100)Most common
Most frequent value in range
=MODE(Scores)Most common score
Mode of named range
Tips & Best Practices
- •Returns #N/A if no duplicates exist
- •Use MODE.MULT for multiple modes
- •Only works with numbers, not text
Common Mistakes
- •Expecting MODE to return multiple values when a dataset has more than one equally frequent value - the classic MODE function only returns the first one it encounters, silently ignoring other ties
- •Using MODE on a dataset with no repeated values at all, which returns a #N/A error since there's no value that occurs more than once
- •Confusing MODE with MEDIAN or AVERAGE - MODE returns the most frequently occurring value, not a measure of central tendency based on ordering or arithmetic mean
Related Functions
MODE.SNGLThe modern replacement for MODE, functionally identical but with a clearer name distinguishing it from MODE.MULT.MODE.MULTReturns an array of all values tied for most frequent, addressing MODE's limitation of only returning a single value.MEDIANReturns the middle value of a sorted dataset, a completely different measure of central tendency than MODE's most-frequent-value approach.Frequently Asked Questions
Why does MODE only show one value when several numbers repeat equally often?
The classic MODE function only returns the single most frequent value it finds first. Use MODE.MULT instead to get an array of every value tied for most frequent.
Why does MODE return #N/A?
No value in the dataset repeats - MODE requires at least one value to appear more than once, unlike AVERAGE or MEDIAN which work on any numeric dataset.
Should I use MODE or MODE.SNGL?
MODE.SNGL is the modern equivalent with identical behavior - MODE is kept mainly for compatibility with older files.
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