how can I subtract the contents of several cells

[whiteteeth]

I know that by entering SUM=(b1:d1) in the formula bar, this will add the
contents of these cells. How can I do this with subtraction without entering
=(b1-c1-d1)? Thanks!

 

[JE McGimpsey]

One way:

=B1-SUM(C11)

Alternatively, you could array-enter (CTRL-SHIFT-ENTER or CMD-RETURN):

=SUM(B1,-C11)

Note that the second solution won't ignore text.

 

[Harlan Grove]

JE McGimpsey wrote...
....

Alternatively, you could array-enter (CTRL-SHIFT-ENTER or CMD-RETURN):

=SUM(B1,-C11)

Note that the second solution won't ignore text.

....

=-SUM(-B1,C11)

will avoid the need for array entry and will only fail to ignore text
in B1. This is an old (REAL OLD) 123 trick.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

So old that it should have been second nature to me...