What does the SUMIF function do in Excel?

The SUMIF function in Excel is designed to add up values in a specified range that meet a particular condition or criterion. This means that it allows you to perform conditional summation, which is extremely useful for analyzing data where only certain entries should be included in a total. For example, if you have a list of sales amounts and you wish to total only those amounts that exceed a certain threshold or belong to a specific category, you can effectively use the SUMIF function to get the desired result.

This function takes three arguments: the range of cells that you want to evaluate (to see if they meet the criteria), the condition that determines whether the corresponding cells in the sum range should be included, and the range of cells to sum. Given that the question asks specifically about this functionality, the choice emphasizing that it adds up cells meeting a specified condition accurately describes the purpose and application of the SUMIF function.

In contrast, the other options either describe different functionalities or do not relate specifically to the SUMIF function. For instance, adding numbers regardless of criteria, making statistical summaries, or calculating averages pertain to different functions or operations within Excel.