min()

min(..., na.rm = FALSE, na.last = TRUE, type = c("ordinary", "ordered"))

Returns numeric· Updated May 12, 2026· Base Functions

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min() returns the minimum value of its arguments. It is among the most frequently used functions for exploratory data analysis and statistical summaries.

Syntax

min(..., na.rm = FALSE, na.last = TRUE, type = c("ordinary", "ordered"))

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`...`	`numeric`	—	One or more vectors, or atomic values. Multiple arguments are combined element-wise.
`na.rm`	`logical`	`FALSE`	If `TRUE`, `NA` values are removed before computing the result.
`na.last`	`logical`	`TRUE`	For `na.rm = FALSE`, controls where `NA` is placed in the output.
`type`	`character`	`"ordinary"`	Either `"ordinary"` for standard comparison, or `"ordered"` for ordered factors.

Examples

Basic usage

x <- c(3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 9, 2, 6)
min(x)
# [1] 1

Multiple arguments

# Compare multiple vectors or values
min(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
# [1] 1

min(c(1, 2), c(3, 4), 5)
# [1] 1

Handling missing values

y <- c(1, 2, NA, 4, 5)

min(y)
# [1] NA

min(y, na.rm = TRUE)
# [1] 1

With different data types

# Character vectors (uses alphabetical order)
chars <- c("apple", "banana", "cherry")
min(chars)
# [1] "apple"

# Logical vectors (TRUE = 1, FALSE = 0)
min(c(TRUE, FALSE, TRUE, FALSE))
# [1] 0

Common Patterns

Finding the range of a vector

data <- c(3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 9, 2, 6)
range_val <- range(data)
range_val
# [1] 1 9

max(data) - min(data)
# [1] 8

Identifying which element is min

scores <- c(85, 92, 78, 91, 88)
which.min(scores)
# [1] 3

# Get the actual value
scores[which.min(scores)]
# [1] 78

Normalizing by scaling to 0-1

values <- c(10, 20, 30, 40, 50)

# Scale to 0-1 range
scaled <- (values - min(values)) / (max(values) - min(values))
scaled
# [1] 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00