MEDIAN in SoftMaker PlanMaker: Syntax, Examples, and Troubleshooting

MEDIAN finds the middle numeric value after the observations are sorted. For an even number of numeric observations it returns the mean of the two central values. This is often useful for typical wages, invoice sizes, delivery times and other skewed measurements. For the eight observations below, =MEDIAN(A2:A9) has an expected result of 12.5 days.

MEDIAN is not the same statistic as AVERAGE: a single extreme value can affect the mean substantially while changing the median relatively little.

=MEDIAN(Number1 [, Number2, Number3 ...])

This is the exact SoftMaker 2026 English syntax. The bracketed portion denotes optional additional arguments; leave out the brackets when typing a formula.

• Number1 (required): a numeric value, cell reference, range, or array of observations.
• Number2, Number3, … (optional): more numeric values, ranges, or arrays to combine into the same dataset before finding the median.
• No default numeric value is specified for a missing required argument. Ignore empty referenced cells, textual cell values, and logical cell values according to the official PlanMaker help; directly passed text and Boolean arguments can be treated differently and should not be mixed into clean numerical data unintentionally.
• Odd count: return the central value. Even count: return the average of the two central values. These are documented rules.

The vendor illustrates =MEDIAN(1,2,3,4,5) → 3 and =MEDIAN(1,2,3,4,5,1000) → 3.5. The latter is an example of resistance to an unusually large observation.

The 2021, 2024, and 2026 English PlanMaker manuals each list this named function and show the same argument order and the same relevant examples. This proves documentation availability in those three releases, not the first release in which the function existed. It does not establish identical behaviour for every edition, build, mobile app, or exported Excel file. PlanMaker’s 2026 product manual addresses a family of desktop and mobile platforms, but this guide has not verified this formula in an installed Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, or iOS build.

The printed examples below use English-locale comma argument separators exactly as the linked English reference does. PlanMaker also lets users configure number separators; decimal display and argument punctuation should be confirmed in the installed locale by inserting the function with Formula → Function if the printed formula is rejected. Do not blindly replace every comma if your environment uses a decimal comma. Enter formulas with a leading = and confirm with Enter.

Create a worksheet with the following eight numeric entries. The duplicate 7 is deliberate; all formulas below use the same values.

The sorted data are 7, 7, 9, 11, 14, 19, 23, 30. The sum is 120, and there are 8 numeric entries. The outputs below follow from these printed values; they were calculated independently, not obtained by running PlanMaker.

1. Enter the eight figures into A2:A9 exactly as displayed.
2. In B2, enter =MEDIAN(A2:A9).
3. Sort the numbers on paper to independently check the formula: 7, 7, 9, 11, 14, 19, 23, 30.
4. The two middle values are 11 and 14, so the mathematical median is (11 + 14) / 2 = 12.5.

Expected PlanMaker result: 12.5. This is independent arithmetic using the printed inputs; no installed PlanMaker application was run.

Put 1000 in B4 as an intentionally extreme ninth observation. In C4 enter:

=MEDIAN(A2:A9,B4)

The nine sorted figures are 7, 7, 9, 11, 14, 19, 23, 30, 1000, making the fifth observation the center. Expected median: 14. By comparison the arithmetic mean of the same nine values would be 1120 / 9 ≈ 124.44. This contrast is a mathematical demonstration, not an observed PlanMaker result.

Enter the following formula in an empty cell:

=AVERAGE(A2:A9)-MEDIAN(A2:A9)

The eight inputs sum to 120, so the mean is 120 / 8 = 15. The median is 12.5. Expected difference: 2.5 days. A positive difference in this example tells you that the average exceeds the median; it does not prove a particular distribution or identify an outlier by itself.

Alternatively, compare the center of two periods using two different references: =MEDIAN(A2:A5) (14,7,23,9) → 11.5 and =MEDIAN(A6:A9) (30,7,11,19) → 15, both derived by averaging each subset’s two central values. Formula displays may round decimal places depending on formatting.

• Ties: duplicate numbers can remain in the dataset. The two sevens are both counted here; MEDIAN is not a distinct-value function.
• Missing values: an empty referenced cell is omitted from the numeric count and may switch the calculation from even to odd (or vice versa). A typed zero is a real number and changes the order statistics; do not replace unknown numbers with zero casually.
• Text/Boolean range cells: the manual says these referenced cell values are ignored. If the source is imported from a CSV, values stored as text may make the median seem unexpectedly high or low.
• No numeric observations or formula errors: this run did not execute the behavior for empty/malformed data, so a specific PlanMaker error code is intentionally not claimed. Verify input types before assuming a code or default value.
• Sorted output: MEDIAN computes the center without changing cell order; it does not sort or highlight the physical source range for you.

1. Formula displayed as text: confirm that the entry starts with = and the destination cell is not inadvertently treated as a literal text entry. Enter or re-enter the formula through PlanMaker’s function dialog if necessary.
2. Result does not match: verify the exact input cells, including accidental extra rows and any numbers stored as text after CSV import. Make sure the range is A2:A9 and not the header or an adjacent column.
3. Unexpected impact from blank or text cells: the official reference ignores blank cells and text/logical cell contents when reading ranges; that differs from entering a logical constant directly as an argument. The examples below do not assume that arbitrary text coerces to a number.
4. Wrong decimal display: check regional number separators and the cell’s number format before changing the formula. Changing the visual number of decimal places does not alter the underlying calculation.
5. Formula error or no useful result: inspect actual input types and brackets, and use the Formula → Function interface. Do not infer a specific error code from these notes: no native error-path execution has been performed.

This familiar function name and basic argument pattern also appear in Microsoft Excel and LibreOffice Calc; nevertheless, cross-application execution and workbook round trips were not tested. Check locale separators, literal-versus-reference handling for Boolean/text inputs, and import/export behavior before relying on identical results across products. Avoid claiming a verified Excel export rule for this function without a separate documented test.

• PlanMaker SORT — arrange the figures before inspecting extremes or middle values.
• PlanMaker SUBTOTAL — a different tool for calculations on filtered lists; it is not an equivalent replacement for every statistic on every dataset.
• PlanMaker IF — build a threshold label from a computed statistic.

• SoftMaker PlanMaker — function documentation
• Official PlanMaker 2024 function reference
• Official PlanMaker 2021 function reference
• Official PlanMaker 2026 formula-entry help
• Official PlanMaker 2026 input/regional settings

Verification status: Official documentation checked; example outcomes were independently reasoned or arithmetically checked where applicable. Not executed in SoftMaker PlanMaker.

• No genuine SoftMaker PlanMaker screenshots are included; this guide does not use mock application images.