How to Use INFO Function in Excel (Concise How-To Guide)

In this article, you will learn how to use the INFO function in Excel.

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What is the INFO function in Excel?

The INFO function in Excel is used to retrieve information on the current operating environment. 

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When is the Excel INFO function helpful?

The INFO function in Excel is helpful when you want information on 

• Documentation and Support: When providing a workbook to a support team or documenting its use, including information about the environment it was created or tested in can be helpful for replication or troubleshooting purposes.
• Environment-Specific Actions: When you have an Excel workbook that is intended to be used across different environments, you can use the `INFO` function to detect the environment and make the workbook behave differently based on the operating system, directory, or Excel version.

Note: The Excel Web App does not support the INFO function.

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How to use the INFO function in Excel

The syntax for the INFO function is the following:

=INFO(type_text)

Type_text: This is a required argument that specifies the type of information you want returned. The following are possible values for the type_text parameter:

• “directory”: Returns the current path of directory.
• “numfile”: Returns the number of worksheets open in the workbook.
• “origin”: Returns the top and leftmost visible cell in the window.
• “osversion”: Returns the operating system version.
• “recalc”: Returns the current recalculation mode (“Automatic” or “Manual”)
• “release”: Returns the Microsoft Excel version. 
• “system”: Returns the operating system name (Machintosh = “Mac” and Windows = “pcdos”)

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An example of using the INFO function can be seen in the image below.

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Another way you can use the INFO function in Excel is in conjunction with other functions. For instance, you could use the INFO function along with the IF function such that the INFO function is used to get the current recalculation mode and the IF function is then used to check if the recalculation mode is set to Automatic. If it is, the IF function will return the text "Recalculation is set to Automatic". If the recalculation mode is not set to Automatic, the IF function will return the text "Recalculation is set to Manual". This can be done with the following syntax:

=IF(INFO("recalc")="Automatic", "Recalculation is set to Automatic", "Recalculation is set to Manual")

This is just one example of how the INFO function can be used in conjunction with other Excel functions. The INFO function can be used to get information about the workbook, and this information can then be used in other formulas to perform more complex tasks.

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Go to the page LiveFlow‘s How to Guides to find more information about Excel and Google Sheets formulas and tips that were not covered here.