adding downward columns across an excel sheet

mapua21 

Yes I realise I can add doing what you suggested,  but I just want to go along a row and add up a section of each column, not the complete column and I wondered if there was a quick way to do it.

I want to =SUM  columns A to M,    but only rows  (say) 10-30  within those columns.

Is this possible.

Virtually everything you can articulate--i.e., that you can describe in words--along such lines, is possible in Excel. It's very versatile.

And often, OFTEN, the very act of describing it in words is the key to figuring out the formula. Again, I'm very serious about this, you need to give yourself permission to experiment (another, perhaps more sophisticated, word for "play"). Instead of asking if such and such is possible, do your own experiments to find out.

A good rule of thumb to keep in mind, "If I think such and such should be possible in Excel, then it probably--HIGHLY LIKELY--is; so the challenge then becomes to find out how those clever Microsoft programmers have made it possible." Said another way, stop asking whether such and such is possible--take it as a given that it IS possible--and go look for how to do it on your own. That can involve playing with the functions (e.g., SUM) that you already know, and it might involve research through online or print materials on Excel.

There are loads of excellent resources to teach yourself, to find answers yourself. Here's a really good one. YouTube has many, an astounding number, some for beginners. There's always Amazon if you like to read. Here's one to save for later.  

But with all of those resources, it still becomes essential to learn to experiment. I would consider myself "moderately advanced" as a user of Excel--been using it or its predecessors for roughly 50 years (seriously)--and I still need to play (or, if you prefer, experiment) with many of the newer functions in Excel to figure out what they do and how they do it. Giving yourself permission to do that--empowering yourself to do that--is of vital importance.