Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, 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: Deriving a Secant and Cosecant.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 2, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365
Excel includes many built-in functions that allow you to use a wide range of trigonometric functions. If you need to determine either the secant or cosecant of an angle, you can use the SEC and CSC functions:
=SEC(A1) =CSC(A1)
The value in A1 must be the angle expressed in radians.
Both the SEC and CSC functions were introduced in Excel 2013. If you are using an older version of Excel you can use a simple formula to derive the values. Let's assume that an angle value, in radians, is stored in cell B7. To derive the secant of the angle, you can use the following formula:
=1/COS(B7)
Likewise, if you need to know the cosecant of the angle, the following formula will do the trick:
=1/SIN(B7)
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10084) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Deriving a Secant and Cosecant.
Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2019 For Dummies today!
You can use the naming capabilities of Excel to name both ranges and formulas. Accessing that named information in a ...
Discover MoreIf you have a column of data that contains color-coded cells, you may want a way to sum values in the column based on the ...
Discover MoreWhen you merge cells that already contain information, you may run into problems with formulas that refer to the ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
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 © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, 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