Excel ABS Function | How to Find Absolute Value in Excel?

What Does ABS Function Do in Excel?

ABS Excel function is also known as Absolute function in excel which is used to calculate the absolute values of a given number, the negative numbers given as input are changed to positive numbers and if the argument provided to this function is positive it remains unchanged.

The ABS in Excel gives the absolute value of a number. It always returns a positive number. It is a built-in function in Excel and is categorized as a Math/Trig Function.

Syntax

Arguments used in ABS Formula in excel

number – The number of which you want to calculate the absolute value in Excel.

In the Function of ABS, the number can be given as directed, in quotes or as cell references. It can be entered as a part of an ABS formula in Excel. It can also be a mathematical operation giving a number as an output. In the function of ABS, If the supplied number argument is non-numeric, it gives #VALUE! error.

Output

ABS in Excel returns the absolute value of the given number. The absolute value of a number is the number excluding its sign. Thus, positive numbers remain unchanged.

How to Use ABS Function in Excel? (with Examples)

You can download this ABS Function Excel Template here – ABS Function Excel Template

Example #1

Suppose you have a list of values given in B3:B10 and you want the absolute values in excel of these numbers.

For the first cell you can type the ABS Formula in Excel:

=ABS(B3)

and press enter. It will return to 5.

Now, you can drag it for the rest of the cells and get their absolute values in excel.

All the numbers in C3:C10 are absolute numbers.

Example #2

Suppose you have revenue data for the seven departments for your company, and you want to calculate the variance between the predicted and actual revenue.

For the 1^st one, you use the ABS Formula in Excel:

=(D4-E4)/ABS(E4)

and press enter. It will give 0.1667

You can drag it to the rest of the cells to get the variance for the remaining six departments.

Example #3

Suppose you have some data in B3:B8 and you want to check which of these numbers are positive and which ones are negative. To do so, you can use the function of ABS to find absolute value in excel.

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You can use the ABS Formula in Excel:

=IF(ABS(B3) = B3, “Positive”, “Negative”)

If B3 is a positive number then, ABS(B3) and B3 will be same.

Here, B3 = -168. So, it will return “Negative” for B3. Similarly, you can do for rest of the values.

Example #4

Suppose you have a list of predicted and actual data of an experiment. Now, you want to compare which of these lie within the range of tolerance of 0.5. The data is given in C3:D10 as shown below.

To check which ones are within the tolerance range, you can use the ABS Formula in Excel:

=IF(ABS(C4-D4) <= 0.5, “Accepted”, “Rejected”)

If the difference between the Actual and Predicted is less than or equal to 0.5, it is accepted else it is rejected.

For the first one, the experiment is rejected as 151.5 – 150.5 = 1 which is greater than 0.5.

Similarly, you can drag it to check for the rest of the experiments.

Example #5

Suppose you have a list of numbers and you want to calculate the closest even number of the given numbers.

You can use the following ABS Formula in Excel:

=IF(ABS(EVEN(B3) – B3) > 1, IF(B3 < 0, EVEN(B3) + 2, EVEN(B3) – 2), EVEN(B3))

If EVEN(B3) is the nearest EVEN number of B3, then ABS(EVEN(B3) – B3) is less than or equal to 1.

If EVEN(B3) is not the nearest EVEN number of B3, then

EVEN(B3) – 2 is the nearest value of B3 if B3 is positive

EVEN(B3) + 2 is the nearest value of B3 if B3 is negative

So, if ABS(EVEN(B3) – B3) > 1, then

If B3 < 0 i.e., if B3 is negative => The nearest even value is EVEN(B3) + 2

If B3 is not negative => The nearest even value is EVEN(B3) – 2

If ABS(EVEN(B3) – B3) ≤ 1, then EVEN(B3) is the nearest even value of B3.

Here, B3 = -4.8.

EVEN(B3) = -4

ABS((-4) – (-4.8)) gives 0.8

ABS(EVEN(B3) – B3) > 1 is FALSE, so it will return EVEN(B3).

Example #6

Suppose you want to identify the closest value of a list of values to a given value, you can do so using the ABS function in Excel.

The list of values in which you want to search are provided in B3:B9 and the value to lookup is given in cell F3.

You can use the following ABS Formula in Excel:

=INDEX(B3:B9, MATCH(MIN(ABS(F3 – B3:B9)), ABS(F3 – B3:B9), 0))

and press CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER (or COMMAND + SHIFT + ENTER for MAC)

Please note that the syntax is an array formula and simply pressing ENTER will give an error.

Let us see the ABS Formula in excel in detail:

(F3 – B3:B9) will return an array of values {-31, 82, -66, 27, 141, -336, 58}
ABS(F3 – B3:B9) will give the absolute values in excel and returns {31, 82, 66, 27, 141, 336, 58}
MIN(ABS(F3 – B3:B9)) will return the minimum value in the array {31, 82, 66, 27, 141, 336, 58} i.e., 27.
MATCH(27, ABS(F3 – B3:B9), 0)) will look the position of “27” in {31, 82, 66, 27, 141, 336, 58} and return 4.
INDEX(B3:B9, 4) will give the value of the 4^th element in B3:B9.

This will return the closest value from the provided list of values B3:B9 i.e. 223

You may notice that the curly braces have been automatically added to the entered ABS Formula. This happens when you enter an array formula.

Things to Remember

The ABS function in Excel returns the absolute value in excel (modulus) of a number.
The function of ABS converts negative numbers to positive numbers
In the function of ABS, positive numbers are unaffected.
In the function of ABS, #VALUE! the error occurs if the supplied argument is non-numeric.