Excel ABS Function

Excel allows us to get an absolute value of a number, by using the ABS function. The ABS function converts a negative number to a positive This step by step tutorial will assist all levels of Excel users in getting an absolute value of a number.

Figure 1. The result of the ABS function

Syntax of the ABS Formula

The generic formula for the ABS function is:

=ABS(number)

The parameters of the ABS function are:

• number – a number which we want to convert from negative to positive.

Setting up Our Data for the ABS Function

In column B (“Number”), we have the list of numbers and in column C (“Absolute number”), we want to get an absolute value for the numbers.

Figure 2. Data that we will use in the ABS example

Get an Absolute Value for a Number

In our example, we want to get absolute values for numbers from column B in column C.

The formula in the cell C3 is:

=ABS(B3)

The parameter number is the cell B3.

To apply the ABS function, we need to follow these steps:

• Select cell C3 and click on it
• Insert the formula: =ABS(B3)
• Press enter
• Drag the formula down to the other cells in the column by clicking and dragging the little “+” icon at the bottom-right of the cell.

Figure 3. Using the ABS function

As you can see, the value from B3 (-123) is converted to its absolute value (123).

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