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 INT Worksheet Function.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 11, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365
There are many times that you simply need to work with whole numbers. Excel provides a handy function, INT, for just such times. This function takes a single argument and returns the integer value of that argument. For instance, consider the following:
=INT(12.34)
Using this formula, Excel returns a value of 12. You should be aware that INT always returns the next lower whole integer. This only seems odd when dealing with negative numbers. For instance, consider the following:
=INT(-43.21)
You may be tempted to believe that Excel would return a value of -43, but this would be wrong. When following the rule of always returning the next lower whole integer, Excel would return -44, which is the next integer lower than -43.21.
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2021-09-12 00:41:12
Roy
Thanks @Willy Vanhaelen: I knew TRUNC(), of course, but did NOT know that you could leave it with just a cell reference (or value I suppose) instead of using the second parameter (so TRUNC(-43.21,0) and TRUNC(-43.21) are the same).
I likes me little details like that, so yay!
But definitely yes, if you really want an integer, TRUNC() is the only way to go as ALL the other usual rounding methods have defects when used for the task.
2021-09-11 05:47:23
Willy Vanhaelen
If you want to simply cut the decimals from a negative integer you can use the TRUNC Function:
=INT(-43.21) -> -44
=TRUNC(-43.21) -> -43
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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:
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