how do i do a subtraction formula in excel

In order to achieve this you need to create a custom format and put the ± in front of the format type. If you want to include plus minus in a number but not affect the formula, you need to use a custom format so that, although you see the ± symbol, Excel does not and it continues to treat the cell as a normal number.Īs shown below, although Excel sees it as a number (1), it shows in the cells with a plus minus preceding it (3). As shown below in the INSERT ribbon (1), you can click on Symbol (2), then make sure you are on the Symbol font (3) (note there are also others) and about 60% down (4) you will see the plus minus symbol (5).īe aware that any formula connected to this cell will break as this is now text. As shown below, in the Format Text part of the TEXT function you need to enter ” ± 0″ which will create the look you want, but be aware that any formula connected to this cell will break as this is now text. You can do something similar with the TEXT function. CONCATĪ formula based option is using CONCAT (new version of CONCATENATE) where you just need to copy the ± symbol from somewhere and include it in the CONCAT formula as shown below.īe aware that any formula connected to this cell will break as this is now text. If it looks wrong, give it another example by typing what you want to see in one of the wrong cells.īe aware that any formula connected to this cell will break as this is now text. Then click on DATA (2), and Flash Fill (3) and it will mimic what you have done to all the others.

Flash Fillįor a quick solution, in the column directly adjacent to the one with the numbers in, type exactly what you want to see as shown in (1) below. The are a number of ways to change multiple cells to start with the plus minus symbol.

Below how to show a plus minus symbol next to a number without affecting the calculation. Quick answer is the a ± in front of any number turns that cell into text so any formula attached to that cell expecting a number will generate an error message.

How do i do a subtraction formula in excel