Excel’s MODE function is a great tool for returning the most frequently occurring number in a set of numbers. But what if you want to return the most frequently occurring word in a list of words?
MODE with Numbers
Using the MODE function in Excel is quite simple; you point to a list of numbers and MODE will tell you which number occurs the most often.
In this list, the number “4” appears more often than any other number.
MODE with Words
As you can see, the MODE function does not work very well when pointing to a list of words.
The function returns a “#N/A” error message.
Not to fear; MODE can be made to return words, but it take the combined efforts of SEVERAL functions, none of which are MODE! (How odd does THAT sound?)