Zoho Sheet MAXIFS: Multiple Conditions, Negative Peaks and Ties

• Introduced: Added in June 2019, according to Zoho’s release history, and announced in its June 10, 2019 post. No numbered cloud release is given.
• Availability: Currently documented in Zoho Sheet’s rolling web-service help; no retirement endpoint is established.
• Scope: English-language web-service documentation. Exact mobile and offline-client parity is not established here.
• Checked: October 14, 2026, against the official MAXIFS reference. Documentation and independent typed-value/selection calculations; no native Zoho Sheet test.

=MAXIFS(max_range; condition_range; condition; [condition_range1]; [condition1]; ...)

The candidate range comes first, followed by a required criteria range and condition. Add further criteria as complete range/condition pairs. The function’s official examples include both a single condition and combined conditions across different columns.

Use the same record positions throughout. This guide keeps every criteria range and candidate range aligned to the same rows; equal lengths alone do not repair an independently sorted column. Zoho’s launch explanation specifically describes conditions in corresponding ranges.

Create Readings with these columns in A1:D1: ID, Site, Status and Reading. Enter the complete dataset:

Place outputs outside A:D:

The eligible North/Ready readings are −6,−2,−2. Their maximum is −2, the least negative value. Removing the status condition admits 8. Removing the site condition admits 12. An unconditional maximum admits the held South value 20.

Put Site in G2 and Status in G3, with North in H2 and Ready in H3. In H4 enter =COUNTIFS(B2:B8;H2;C2:C8;H3); expect 3 eligible records.

In H5 enter =MAXIFS(D2:D8;B2:B8;H2;C2:C8;H3); expect −2. In H6 enter =COUNTIFS(B2:B8;H2;C2:C8;H3;D2:D8;H5); expect 2 ties.

Change H2 to South. H4:H6 become 1,12,1. Restore H2 to North afterward. A maximum returns one value even when several records attain it; it does not select a unique ID automatically.

Keep the original columns and criteria intact. Put Zero-filled helper in J1. Enter =IF(AND(B2="North";C2="Ready");D2;0) in J2 and fill to J8.

The helper values are −6,−2,0,0,−2,0,0. Enter =MAX(J2:J8) in L2; expect 0, which is not the correct North/Ready maximum. In L3 enter =F2; the correct selected maximum remains −2.

The helper inserted zeros for excluded records. Those placeholders are greater than all eligible negative readings, so they win the maximum. Filtering candidates with MAXIFS avoids that particular substitution. This illustrates why a convenient placeholder is not neutral for every operation.

F7’s zero is an actual East/Ready observation. In L5 enter =COUNTIFS(B2:B8;"East";C2:C8;"Ready"); expect 1.

In L6 enter =COUNTIFS(B2:B8;"Central";C2:C8;"Ready"); expect 0. This is a different situation. The short MAXIFS reference does not state its native no-match result, so this tutorial does not invent a zero or error token for that call. Check the eligible count first and report no matching records when it is zero, rather than interpreting an unverified no-match maximum as a measurement.

The count guard here is scoped to the complete numeric Reading column. Matching records with missing or nonnumeric readings need a separate completeness rule.

These examples use exact text labels and ordinary numeric comparisons. The short function entry does not fully specify case normalization, wildcard escaping, mismatched dimensions, text candidates or all error propagation. Keep those distinct from the documented behavior of similarly named functions in other applications.

COUNTIFS checks qualifying records and ties. MINIFS selects the lower extreme, while MAX ignores these row conditions. IF and AND make the intentionally unsafe helper’s logic explicit; a helper must preserve the mathematical meaning of exclusion before replacing a conditional aggregate.