Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Using the ABS Function.
If you need to determine the absolute value of a number, you use the ABS worksheet function. It returns the positive equivalent of any value referenced. Thus, if you wanted the absolute value of what is in cell B7, you would use the following:
=ABS(B7)
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8771) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Using the ABS Function.
Save Time and Supercharge Excel! Automate virtually any routine task and save yourself hours, days, maybe even weeks. Then, learn how to make Excel do things you thought were simply impossible! Mastering advanced Excel macros has never been easier. Check out Excel 2010 VBA and Macros today!
Character codes are the numeric values used, by a computer, to signify various alphanumeric characters. You can use the ...
Discover MoreWhen working with text in a formula, you may need to extract the left-most characters from a string of text or from a ...
Discover MoreWhen you need to count a number of cells based upon a single criteria, the standard function to use is COUNTIF. This tip ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2020-04-27 11:03:03
Craig Abt
I use the abs function when adding validations to my worksheets. For example, if I turn a pivot summary from a data table that gets updated montly, I'll add a "check" cell containing something like the following formula:
=if(abs(cell ref of pivot table total - cell ref of data table total)<1,"ok","error")
if I have addl time, I'll also add conditional formatting to the above cell such that it displays red fill for "error" and green fill for "ok"
Thanks for your tips
Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2022 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: 
Comments