Tip #8: Using RAND and RANDBETWEEN functions to generate random data sets

Tip #8: Using RAND and RANDBETWEEN functions to generate random data sets

Have you ever spent hours working on a sample data record for a demonstration? We're here to show you how to do it in less time. If you want to generate a sample data set for a demonstration, or just to learn how a pivot table works, using the RAND and RANDBETWEEN functions can be a savior. With these functions, you can generate random data that includes text, numbers, dates, and even cell references.
 


How to use them 

The RAND function generates random values with no defined limits, while RANDBETWEEN, as its name signifies, returns random values within a specified range of values. Let's see how they can be used to generate various data sets.
 

Random numbers 

To get random numbers, you can use these functions the default way (i.e. without any special changes). 



Example
=RAND() returns float values between 0 and 1
=RANDBETWEEN(10;100) returns values between 10 and 100, inclusive
 

Random text values 

To get random text values (letters of the alphabet), you can use the RANDBETWEEN function in combination with the CHAR function. The numbers given as the input must be between 65 to 90 for capital letters and 97 to 122 for small letters.



Example
=CHAR(RANDBETWEEN(65;90)) returns capital letters
 

Random date values 

To get random date values, you can use the RANDBETWEEN function and specify the start and end dates. If the result is returned in the form of a date-time serial number, apply the Date format to the cells to get the desired result.



Example
=RANDBETWEEN("1/2/2022";"19/2/2022") returns dates from the given date range
 

Random cell references

To get random cell references as the result, use RANDBETWEEN function in combination with ADDRESS function. You can also choose the reference type to be absolute or relative.



Example
=ADDRESS(RANDBETWEEN(1;100);RANDBETWEEN(1;5);4) returns random cell references between columns A to E and rows 1 to 100.
 

Random values from a list 

If you wish to get random values from a specified data set or range of values, you can use RANDBETWEEN in combination with INDEX function.



Example 
=INDEX(L2:L8;RANDBETWEEN(1;5);1;1) returns random values from the cell range L2:L8.
 
Apart from the above mentioned functions, you can also use RANDARRAY and SEQUENCE to get an array of random and ordered data respectively! Are there any specific features you'd like to learn more about in future tips? Tell us in the comments below! 
 
Join the Zoho Sheet community and stay up to date on the latest features, interact with fellow users, and learn from the team behind Zoho Sheet. For more such exciting tips follow our Tips and Tricks forum.

    Access your files securely from anywhere









                          Zoho Developer Community




                                                • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                • Digest


                                                • Functions


                                                • Meetups


                                                • Kbase


                                                • Resources


                                                • Glossary


                                                • Desk Marketplace


                                                • MVP Corner


                                                • Word of the Day


                                                • Ask the Experts



                                                          • Sticky Posts

                                                          • Tip #20 - Three things you probably didn't know you can do with picklists

                                                            Hello Zoho Sheet users! We’re back with another quick tip to help you make your spreadsheets smarter. Picklists are a great tool to maintain consistency in your spreadsheet. Manually entering data is time-consuming and often leaves typos and irregular
                                                          • Tip #18: 6 Trendlines and when to use them in your spreadsheet data?

                                                            Charts are a great tool for visualizing and interpreting large chunks of data in spreadsheets. Zoho Sheet offers you 35+ chart options, along with AI-powered chart recommendations based on the data set you select. There are various chart elements that
                                                          • Tip #16: Ask Zia your data-related questions and get powerful insights

                                                            Zoho Sheet provides a variety of tools and functionalities to help you analyze your data from end to end. But what if you could analyze all your data sets with a single AI-powered tool? Meet Zia, our smart virtual assistant who will answer all your data-related
                                                          • Tip #17: Easily share spreadsheets with non-Zoho account users

                                                            With efficient, collaboration-friendly options, Zoho Sheet is a popular choice among users. Sheet's external share links help you collaborate more effectively by sharing your spreadsheets with anyone outside your organization, including users who do not
                                                          • Tip #7: Four things you didn't know you can do with Conditional Formatting

                                                            Conditional formatting helps you highlight and visualize data in your spreadsheet based on provided rules. Zoho Sheet offers three types of conditional formatting: Classic, Color Scales, and Icon Sets. If you're already familiar with how Conditional Formatting works, here are some bonus tips for Classic formats: Customize rules with formulas Zoho Sheet allows you to create personalized rules based on formulas. For example, in a task list you can use customized formulas to highlight tasks which are


                                                          Manage your brands on social media



                                                                Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                    Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                      Zoho Books Resources


                                                                        Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                          Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                            Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                              Qntrl Resources


                                                                                Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                    Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                    • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                      CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                    • Kaizen

                                                                                      Kaizen

                                                                                    • Functions

                                                                                      Functions

                                                                                    • Meetups

                                                                                      Meetups

                                                                                    • Kbase

                                                                                      Kbase

                                                                                    • Resources

                                                                                      Resources

                                                                                    • Digest

                                                                                      Digest

                                                                                    • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                      CRM Marketplace

                                                                                    • MVP Corner

                                                                                      MVP Corner







                                                                                        Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                        Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                        Get Started Now


                                                                                          Zoho Show Resources

                                                                                            Zoho Writer

                                                                                            Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                            Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                              Zoho CRM コンテンツ






                                                                                                Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                    ご検討中の方




                                                                                                          • Recent Topics

                                                                                                          • Notification received when self-assigning tickets

                                                                                                            When I assign tickets in Zoho Desk the relevant agent gets a notification email. When assigning myself a ticket in Zoho Desk, I get a notification email. Now, as I am the person who assigned the ticket to myself, getting a notification in this regard
                                                                                                          • Nouveauté dans Zoho Writer - Création de documents et de modèles assistée par l'IA

                                                                                                            Zia, l’assistant IA de Zoho Writer, soutient les utilisateurs dans l’amélioration de leur écriture et la création de contenus : correction orthographique et grammaticale en temps réel, suggestions adaptées au contexte, détection du plagiat, révisions
                                                                                                          • Session Expired

                                                                                                            I constantly get "Session Expired" and need to relogin or close and open the application again. This gets really frustrating during the day. Is this something that can be solved? This really makes me want to leave the app as it is no go to need to reopen
                                                                                                          • Integrate your Outlook/ Office 365 inbox with Zoho CRM via Graph API

                                                                                                            Hello folks, In addition to the existing IMAP and POP options, you can now integrate your Outlook/Office 365 inbox with Zoho CRM via Graph API. Why did we add this option? Microsoft Graph API offers a single endpoint to access data from across Microsoft’s
                                                                                                          • Disable Buttons for Users with Profiles without permission

                                                                                                            Hey, I've noticed that users without permission of setting up things in the marketplace, can still see the icon: On a click, you see this: It would be way better, if they couldn't see this menu icon at all. (Aside from the fact that it completely misplaced
                                                                                                          • Mapping a new Ticket in Zoho Desk to an Account or Deal in Zoho CRM manually

                                                                                                            Is there any way for me to map an existing ticket in Zoho desk to an account or Deal within Zoho CRM? Sometimes people use different email to put in a ticket than the one that we have in the CRM, but it's still the same person. We would like to be able
                                                                                                          • Zoho製品と生成AIツールの活用について

                                                                                                            いつもありがとうございます。 弊社では、Zoho Oneを契約し、CRMを軸として、見込み客の管理から商談、その後の受注や請求の管理、サポート業務(Desk)、業務データのレポーティング(Analytics)などを行っております。 Zohoサービス自体には、Ziaというツールが搭載されているかと存じますが、それ以外の外部の生成AIツールと連携した活用などもできるのでしょうか?具体的には、CopilotなどがZohoに登録されているデータや情報を見て、対話型で必要なデータを提示してくれたり、商談や蓄積されたメモなどを分析してユーザが知見を得られるような活用ができないか、と考えております。
                                                                                                          • Zoho Analytics - Make text clickable in underlying data

                                                                                                            Hi Community, I have a simple sales report based on a Invoice query table. I have included a link on to each invoice on the table and sent the Invoice number URL to the link. This works find in the query table, but when I click underlying data on the
                                                                                                          • Credit Management: #5 Advanced Refund Policy

                                                                                                            You're subscribed to a well-known SaaS design tool. You've used it to manage your team's projects, create marketing visuals, brochures, and so on. But your needs change over time. Your company may switch to another tool or hire an in-house designer who
                                                                                                          • Exported Slide Image Lacks Portion of the Background Image

                                                                                                            This does not always happen, but when I export (or "download") the rendered image of a slide, it sometimes lacks a portion of the background image. I created a sample slide deck to demonstrate it and shared it with the admins. It is also publicly available
                                                                                                          • How to create a Zoho Mail extension similar to Outlook's OnSend add-in?

                                                                                                            Hi, I want to create a Zoho Mail extension similar to Outlook’s OnSend add-in. The extension should: Let the user select headers and footers from a taskpane while composing an email. When the user clicks Send, the extension should: Automatically insert
                                                                                                          • Effective Inbox Organization: Folders vs Tags in Zoho Mail?

                                                                                                            I'm exploring the best ways to organize a busy inbox, especially when managing multiple clients or project using Zoho Mail. I’d love to know what works best for others: 1. Do you prefer **folders** (possibly with sub-folders) for each client or project?
                                                                                                          • Piss poor service in Support in Domains and email

                                                                                                            Srijith Narayanan B contacted me today. Very pleasant fellow. Just didn't want to tell him how bad your support service is. You help the person, but you leave before we can finish the next stage. Which causes a lot of frustration. It's been 8 days now
                                                                                                          • Zoho Mail android app update: Block & reject future emails, Report phishing, Spam alerts, Suspicious URL detection

                                                                                                            Hello everyone! In the most recent Zoho Mail Android app update, we have brought in support for the following features: Block & reject future emails Report Phishing Spam alerts in the mail details screen. Suspicious URL detection. Block & reject future
                                                                                                          • Zohomail does not support additional fields in mailto links

                                                                                                            Hello, I set up Zohomail as default composer in Firefox according to manual here: https://www.zoho.com/mail/help/defaultcomposer.html#alink2 Later, I wanted to use this functionality to answer in a Linux mailing list thread using mailto link: mailto:xxxxx@kernel.org?In-Reply-To=%3C727o0521-q24p-s0qq-66n0-sn436rpqqr1p@example.com%3E&Cc=xxxxx%example.org&Subject=Re%3A%20%5BPATCH%20v2%28%29
                                                                                                          • Emails not being received from a particular domain

                                                                                                            Cannot receive any emails sent from atco.com Domain is in the spam whitelist so should be no reason for it not to be coming through. Have filed a ticket and besides a generic response of we are looking at it - it seems there is no actual support workers
                                                                                                          • Email address for forwarding is not saving and there's no confirmation ema

                                                                                                            Steps to reproduce: 1. Enter my forward email in the email forward section of the account 2. Click save 3. See a notification stating saved successfully 4. Refresh the page, no forward email is saved 5. No email confirmation received at the forwarding
                                                                                                          • This domain is not allowed to add in Zoho. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details

                                                                                                            This is the error i keep getting when trying to use my Zoho Domain Mail. This domain is not allowed to add in Zoho. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details Find attached. I hope this can be resolved very quickly so i can go on and make
                                                                                                          • Auto CC - Moving Departments

                                                                                                            We have Auto CC e-mail replies to your support mailbox enabled. We have two departments: Helpdesk (helpdesk@domain.com) Delivery (delivery@domain.com) If we create a Helpdesk ticket, and reply, replies are CC'd to helpdesk@domain.com (OK) We then move
                                                                                                          • I have error AS101 when I try to add paypal@mydomain.com to Zoho

                                                                                                            Please help me with this. I tried to call the help line 4 times but don't get any response.
                                                                                                          • unable to send message reason 554 5.1.8 Email outgoing blocked

                                                                                                            unable to send message reason 554 5.1.8 Email outgoing blocked
                                                                                                          • Mailk got blocked / Inquiry About Email Sending Limits and Upgrade Options

                                                                                                            Dear Zoho Support Team, My name is Kamr Elsayed I created this account to use for applying for vocational training in Germany. As part of this process, I send multiple emails to different companies. However, after sending only 8 emails today, I received
                                                                                                          • SMTP email sending problem

                                                                                                            Hello, I've sent emails before, but you haven't responded. Please respond. My work is being disrupted. I can't send emails via SMTP. Initially, there were no problems, but now I'm constantly receiving 550 bounce errors. I can't use the service I paid
                                                                                                          • unblock my zoho mail account. outlines@zoho.com

                                                                                                            please unblock my zoho mail account, outlines@zoho.com
                                                                                                          • Unable to see free plan option

                                                                                                            Hello Zoho Support Team, I hope you are doing well. I am trying to sign up for Zoho Mail, but I am unable to see the option for the free plan. Could you please guide me on how I can access or activate the free plan? Thank you for your assistance.
                                                                                                          • Outgoing blocked: Unusual activity detected.

                                                                                                            I just made payment for my Zohomail Today and have been debited so i will like to be Unblocked because this is what it says (Outgoing blocked: Unusual activity detected) Thank you i await your swift responses
                                                                                                          • How to remove some users in zoho accounts

                                                                                                            How to remove some users in Zoho accounts.
                                                                                                          • Forwarder

                                                                                                            Hi, I tried to add a forwarder from which emails are sent to my main zoho account email . However, it asks me for a code that should be received at the forwarder email, which is still not activated to send to my zoho emial account. So how can I get the
                                                                                                          • Forwarder

                                                                                                            Hi, I tried to add a forwarder from which emails are sent to my main zoho account email . However, it asks me for a code that should be received at the forwarder email, which is still not activated to send to my zoho emial account. So how can I get the
                                                                                                          • DKIM cannot be enabled for the domain as no verified default selector present

                                                                                                            Hi Support Team, For Domain DKIM record trying to enable status. but showing error "DKIM cannot be enabled for the domain as no verified default selector present" So, please resolve the issue. Thank you.
                                                                                                          • I can't log in to my account on Thunderbird

                                                                                                            I've just had to rebuild my PC (calamitous mess from Microsoft with Win10/Win 11 'upgrade' - they confirmed I had to start with a new build). I have used Zoho mail for years via Mozilla Thunderbird, but now I've had to download the latest version of TBird,
                                                                                                          • Sorten the domain of zoho mail ids

                                                                                                            I recently created zoho mail id and am quite excited with the features. But one issue ig nobody wanna type this big zohoaccounts.com I mean silly bold Suggestion zmail.com (sound gmail) (attraction) or some genz words looks cool
                                                                                                          • Weekly Tips : Customize your Zoho Mail Notifications

                                                                                                            In a professional context, email communication remains one of the most crucial channels for staying connected and managing workflows. Keeping track of your emails, task updates, or important announcements can be overwhelming—especially if you are juggling
                                                                                                          • How to move emails to Shared Mailbox?

                                                                                                            Hello, I created a Shred Mailbox instead of using a distribution group. But I cannot move previous emails to certain shared mailbox. Is it possible move some emails from inbox to shared mailbox?
                                                                                                          • Email task creator when task is updated/marked complete

                                                                                                            I am looking for a way to notify the creator of a task in zoho todo when - Task is updated Task is closed Comments entered 1 and 2 are critical, and I cannot find a zoho flow to do this. There is no way that as a manager I will know when someone has completed
                                                                                                          • The attendees will now be redirected to the landing webpage when they exit the webinar, set by the organizer.

                                                                                                            Hello All, In the latest version of the Zoho Meeting iOS mobile app (v1.3.16), we have brought in the below enhancements:   Post Webinar Re-direction Revamped exit UI for Webinar Post Webinar Re-direction:  The attendees will now be redirected to the
                                                                                                          • Download API file contents from browser

                                                                                                            Hi Team - is there something being planned to be able to trigger file downloads from the browser via a deluge script? i.e. retrieve a file via API, trigger the file download directly from the browser. Or... using the convertToPdf function (https://www.zoho.com/deluge/help/functions/file/convert-to-pdf.html)
                                                                                                          • March 15, 2023: Zoho Docs is discontinued

                                                                                                            As of today (March 15, 2023) Zoho Docs is discontinued for all users. We would like to thank our customers for trusting us for so many years! Going forward, we're confident you'll enjoy using Zoho WorkDrive for all your advanced file management and collaboration
                                                                                                          • When using "locations" in zoho books, can you keep the two locations totally separate from each other?

                                                                                                            I am looking to add a location but I don't want to intermingle the banking or other accounts. I want that to be like two separate independent branches that use different banking accounts, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. The people who are in
                                                                                                          • Adding a Channel to SalesIQ

                                                                                                            I have a client that currently uses Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk. They would like a live chat to place on their website that has a mobile app and chat bots (something like SalesIQ). However, they would also like to have all this work over SMS as well. Does the SalesIQ API allow this? Can I add visitors without them being a visitor on a website? Thanks! Bryan Redeagle
                                                                                                          • Next Page