Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, 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: Determining a Value of a Cell.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 24, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021
You already know that a cell in a worksheet can contain any number of different items: numbers, dates, formulas, and so on. There may be times when you want to determine the underlying value in a cell, without regard to the way the cell is formatted. For this need, Excel provides the N worksheet function. For instance, let's assume that cell F17 contains a date. If you use = N(F17) as your formula, the value returned by the formula is the underlying serial number used for the date.
Besides returning date serial numbers, the N worksheet function returns a number if the referenced value or cell can be resolved to a number, a 1 if the value or cell can be resolved to the logical value True, and a 0 for anything else. The following provides a few examples of how the N worksheet function works:
| Value in F17 | Returned by = N(F17) | |
|---|---|---|
| 3/17/19 | 43541 | |
| 37.14 | 37.14 | |
| TRUE | 1 | |
| Quarter 1 | 0 | |
| 5:40 | 0.236111 |
There is another rather unique (and very esoteric) use for the N function—you can use it to add comments to formulas. For instance, consider the following:
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, 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:
=SUM(A2:A267) + N("sales for northwest region")
Because N returns a value of 0 for the text (as indicated in the table above), adding 0 to the result of the SUM doesn't affect the return value at all. It may look a little strange in the Formula bar, but the result is that you are able to handily document what the formula does.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11552) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Determining a Value of a Cell.
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2024-08-28 02:16:25
Enno
Why should I use the N-function?
In all the shown cases the internal value is the same as the value, the N-function delivers. You can see this, if you format the cells to "standard".
You can even calculate with these values. So it is easier to add a zero for the true/false values and format the cells to "standard".
Enno
2024-08-26 12:03:22
J. Woolley
Another Excel function similar to N is T(arg). If arg is text, T returns arg; otherwise, T returns a null string ("").
To add a comment to a cell formula:
For a numeric or logical formula (represented by ...), use
=N("comment") + ...
which adds zero as described in the Tip. In this case a logical formula will return 1 for TRUE and 0 for FALSE; if you want to return TRUE/FALSE, use
=OR(N("comment"), ...)
With a text formula, use
=T(N("comment")) & ...
which prepends a null string ("") because N("comment") returns zero.
To make a cell formula Volatile (update each time Excel recalculates):
For a numeric or logical formula (represented by ...), use
=N(T(NOW())) + ...
which adds zero because T(NOW()) returns a null string (""). In this case a logical formula will return 1 for TRUE and 0 for FALSE; if you want to return TRUE/FALSE, use
=OR(N(T(NOW())), ...)
With a text formula, use
=T(NOW()) & ...
which prepends a null string ("").
My Excel Toolbox includes MyFavoriteExcelNotes.PDF with randomly collected, poorly organized, and occasionally updated information like this;
see https://drive.google.com/open?id=1OYSSMYKh5Dh6zb69gel2pUK6HxIXxKu7
And see https://sites.google.com/view/MyExcelToolbox/
2024-08-26 09:39:16
David Allen
So that's how you add notes to a cell! I always thought there must be a way.
Thank you, Allen, that's really going to help me a lot in documenting my spreadsheets.
2024-08-24 15:46:22
Erik
I've always wished there was a way to add notes inside formulas. After all, it's common in programming. Little did I know there is one! Thank you very much.
2024-08-24 10:08:48
Dave Bonin
Love the use of N() for commenting.
I've always thought Excel needed a way to do in-formula comments, kind of like you can with using a single quote in VBA.
Using cell comments (now called notes) seems too heavy-handed and interferes with the end-user experience.
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