Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. 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: Rounding by Powers of 10.

Rounding by Powers of 10

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 20, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


If you want to round a number to the nearest 10, 100, or 1000, you can use the ROUND function with negative values for the second parameter. This approach works very well—and very quickly.

For instance, if you have a value in cell D6 and you want to round it to the nearest 100, you could use the following formula:

=ROUND(D6,-2)

This rounds the second digit to the left of the current decimal place. For instance, if D6 contains the value 12345, then the formula returns 12300. Similarly, if D6 contains 12351, then the formula returns 12400.

You can use the same technique to round to the nearest 10 by using -1 as the second parameter, or to the nearest 1000 by using -3.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11102) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Rounding by Powers of 10.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Unwanted Styles

Want to get rid of some styles in a document that you don't need any more? It can be a difficult thing to do, unless you ...

Discover More

Generating a List of Unique Words

Need to grab a list of unique words appearing in a document? You can tap the power of VBA's Words collection to perform ...

Discover More

Suppressing Endnotes

Endnotes are a beneficial necessity for some documents. If you want to print a copy of the document without endnotes, ...

Discover More

Dive Deep into Macros! Make Excel do things you thought were impossible, discover techniques you won't find anywhere else, and create powerful automated reports. Bill Jelen and Tracy Syrstad help you instantly visualize information to make it actionable. You’ll find step-by-step instructions, real-world case studies, and 50 workbooks packed with examples and solutions. Check out Microsoft Excel 2019 VBA and Macros today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Modified Rounding

Rounding is normally done so that values greater than or equal to .5 are rounded up and less than .5 are rounded down. ...

Discover More

Rounding in Results

Rounding is a fact of life when it comes to using formulas in a worksheet. Sometimes that rounding can be a bit ...

Discover More

Rounding Numbers

The primary method of rounding values is to use the ROUND function in your formulas. Here's an introduction to this ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 4 + 9?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

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.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.