MINIFS Function

Summary

MINIFS returns the lowest value from cells that meet one or more conditions. It works like a filtered version of MIN, so you can ignore the rest of the dataset and focus only on the rows that match your rules.

This is helpful when the overall minimum is too broad to be useful. You might want the lowest price in one region, the shortest response time for one status, or the smallest score after a certain date. MINIFS is built for that kind of question.

MINIFS is useful when the worksheet needs the smallest value that also meets a set of rules. It is a clean fit for business-style questions like lowest matching price, shortest qualifying delay, or minimum value within one category and period.

Syntax

=MINIFS(min_range, criteria_range1, criteria1, [criteria_range2, criteria2], ...)

The first argument is the range that contains the values you want to compare. After that, each condition is added as a range and criteria pair.

Arguments

• min_range - [required] The cells that contain the values to check for the minimum.
• criteria_range1 - [required] The first range Excel evaluates.
• criteria1 - [required] The rule for the first criteria range.
• criteria_range2, criteria2, ... - [optional] Additional range and criteria pairs.

MINIFS vs Other Functions

Using the MINIFS Function

The core rule is simple: every condition has to match on the same row. If you ask for the lowest value where the department is Sales and the region is North, only rows that satisfy both conditions are considered. Everything else is ignored.

Like the other ...IFS functions, argument order matters. MINIFS starts with min_range, then follows with range and criteria pairs. If that first argument is wrong, the formula may still run but answer a different question than you intended.

Microsoft notes that the compared range and all criteria ranges must have the same size and shape, or Excel returns #VALUE!. It also shows that if no rows match the criteria, the function returns 0. Like MAXIFS, a blank criteria cell is treated as 0.

Example 1 - Find the lowest Sales value in the North

This example shows the standard MINIFS pattern. Excel first filters the rows so only Sales records from the North region are considered.

After that, it compares the remaining values and returns the smallest one. That is useful when you need the floor inside one group instead of the minimum from the whole dataset.

=MINIFS(C1:C10,A1:A10,"Sales",B1:B10,"North") // Returns the lowest value for Sales in North.

Example 2 - Find the lowest recent score above 10

Here one rule checks whether the date is recent enough, while the other checks whether the value is still above a lower limit. This keeps the result focused on rows that matter right now and also meet the threshold.

The answer is the lowest value among rows that pass both tests. That makes it useful when you want the weakest qualifying result instead of the weakest result overall.

=MINIFS(B1:B10,A1:A10,">1/1/2026",B1:B10,">10") // Returns the lowest value that meets both rules.

Example 3 - Combine a wildcard with status

This example is useful when the region names are similar but not identical. The wildcard groups the North labels together, while the status rule keeps only the Active rows in the final search.

That means the minimum comes from a filtered subset, not the whole list. It is a good example of narrowing the search before asking for the lowest value.

=MINIFS(C1:C10,A1:A10,"North*",B1:B10,"Active") // Returns the lowest active North value.

Example 4 - Use cells for the criteria

In this version, the filters live in cells instead of inside the formula. That makes the setup easier to reuse in a report because the criteria can change without changing the formula text.

This is a practical pattern for dashboards and summary sheets where users need to test different groups quickly.

=MINIFS(C1:C10,A1:A10,D1,B1:B10,D2) // Uses D1 and D2 as the criteria.

Conclusion Recap

MINIFS is for finding the lowest value after you filter the data first. In this lesson, the filters changed by category, date, status, and cell-based criteria, but the job stayed the same.

You first decide which rows should count, then Excel returns the smallest value from only those rows. That makes MINIFS useful when the lowest value in the full sheet is not the answer you actually need.

• Main job: MINIFS returns the lowest value that matches all conditions.
• Starts with min_range: The first argument is always the range to compare.
• All conditions must match: The row is used only if every rule is true.
• Matching range sizes matter: If the ranges are not the same shape, Excel returns #VALUE!.
• No matches: If nothing meets the criteria, the result is 0.
• Best use: Choose MINIFS when you need the lowest result from a filtered subset of the data.