Returns the number of combinations for a given number of items. You can use COMBIN function to determine the total possible number of groups for a given number of items. COMBIN is equivalent to combination used in math. What is a combination exactly?

It can only be use on ose cell value like =COMBIN(A1;A5) you can use COMBIN function at range of cells =COMBIN(A1:A4;A5)- it returns #ARG! Error.

In the simplest way we can present combination as:



But what’s that symbols?

Imagine you have a bag full of cookies, the number of cookies is 100 and the number value will be our ‘n’. This cookies are in different flavors: with orange, strawberry, chocolate and with coconut. (flavor is named as ‘k’). Ok but you like that chocolate ones, so how many of them do we have?

Combine function can calculate for you in how many combinations of chocolate cookies to others flavors you can have.

Let’s have a look at the Combination example in Excel.



In this example A1 is our number of cookies and A2 is number of flavors. At A5 we used =COMBIN(A1;A2). The result is 10, because if we have only one flavor there is only one combination- they all have to be the same. So if we have our 100 cookies and 4 flavors how it could be?



Wow, we have almost 4 000 000 combination it sounds amazing! But it means that the probability that every cookies you have will be chocolate flavor is like one to 3 921 225, Hmm.. guess you have to be lucky.

COMBIN function Exercises