MINA in Excel: Minimum Values with TRUE and FALSE Included

• Introduced: First introduction version is not established by the official history reviewed.
• Availability: official help lists Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel for Microsoft 365 for Mac, Excel 2024, Excel 2024 for Mac, Excel 2021, Excel 2021 for Mac, Excel 2019, Excel 2016.
• Checked: October 14, 2026; official MINA reference. Documentation and independently calculated examples; no native Excel execution or broader platform certification.

=MINA(value1, [value2], ...)

The first argument is required; up to 255 values or range arguments are documented. The function compares values rather than returning a record label. TRUE and FALSE have explicit one/zero contributions.

Evidence caution: the current Microsoft page simultaneously says text in references is ignored and text contributes zero. The guide therefore does not certify a complete referenced-text conversion rule. Its successful examples use numeric and logical cells, supported by the dedicated Boolean example, rather than resolving that contradiction by analogy with another spreadsheet.

Enter numeric 4, numeric 8, and the formula =TRUE() in A2:A4:

=MINA(A2:A4)
=MIN(A2:A4)

Expected results are 1 and 4. MIN ignores a logical value in a referenced range; MINA includes its value one.

Replace TRUE with FALSE. MINA now has expected result 0, while MIN remains four. A logical flag is not a measured numeric zero or one even when its arithmetic contribution has that value. Keep the original type visible so the interpretation remains clear.

Put numeric -7, numeric -2, and TRUE in C2:C4. =MINA(C2:C4) has expected result -7. Replacing TRUE with FALSE still gives -7 because both zero and one exceed the negative observations.

Changing -7 to positive three gives a minimum of -2. Changing the remaining -2 to positive five then gives one with TRUE, or zero with FALSE. The effect of including a logical value depends on the numeric population; a test using only negative numbers would hide it.

Microsoft documents zero when the supplied arguments contain no values. The guide does not certify all ways that empty references and formulas might reach that state. A result of zero alone is therefore not proof that the source contains a measured zero.

Even in the unambiguous numeric/logical controls, these two ranges have MINA zero for different reasons:

• E2:E3: numeric 0 and numeric 9
• G2:G3: logical FALSE and numeric 9

The first contains a numeric zero; the second contains a false flag. ISNUMBER distinguishes the first cell of each range with expected TRUE and FALSE. A separate validation column should decide whether a logical entry is an acceptable measurement.

For numeric 4, numeric 8 and TRUE in the original A2:A4 control:

=MAXA(A2:A4)-MINA(A2:A4)
=MAX(A2:A4)-MIN(A2:A4)

Expected results are 7 and 4. The MINA/MAXA span extends down to the logical contribution one. The numeric-only span uses the observed numbers four and eight.

Neither formula is a general data-quality repair. Choose whether flags should participate before summarizing the range, rather than selecting whichever result looks closer to a desired report.

A first numeric group contains 4 and 8; a second contains 3 and 12. Their combined minimum is 3. Including a TRUE flag in either supplied group changes MINA’s combined minimum to 1.

A minimum can be reconstructed from group minima only if the groups used the same inclusion policy. A minimum taken with MIN and another with MINA may summarize different participant sets, even when both are numeric outputs.

Microsoft warns that error arguments or text that cannot be converted can cause errors. MINA is not an error-filtering function. The reference’s conflicting text paragraphs are recorded as a verification hold; no general empty-string or numeric-text matrix is invented.

The result also does not identify the source row, resolve ties or find the largest absolute deviation. Preserve complete source records and apply a separate lookup or ranking rule when the report needs more than the minimum value itself.

• Microsoft MINA reference.
• Editorial testing standards.

Worked inputs are fictional. Decimal answers are independently calculated mathematical expectations rounded to nine places, not captured native results. Extreme magnitudes, complete coercion matrices and cross-version numerical accuracy remain untested.