How to Use Absolute Value in Excel

The tutorial explains what an absolute value is and how to Use Absolute Value in Excel to calculate sums, averages, and the maximum and minimum absolute values in a group of numbers. Positive and negative are two of the most basic things we know about numbers. But occasionally you need to employ just positive values, and that’s when the absolute value comes in handy.

If you use Excel to work with numbers, you may sometimes need to find the absolute value of a number. The distance a number is from 0 on a number line is its absolute value. In other words, it is the size of the number, no matter what its sign is. Using the ABS function in Excel, you may find the absolute value of a number. ABS is a built-in Excel function that gives a number’s absolute value.

Ways to Use Absolute Value in Excel

Use Absolute Value of a Number With ABS in Excel

ABS is an easy system to understand. It accepts one input, which is the number whose absolute value you want to find. You just need to know how to use it in Excel and where to put it. You can also go to the official Microsoft Excel support site to know more information about this.

Some players’ positions in a game are shown in this sample spreadsheet. Only the X-axis is used in this game, and everyone starts at the zero point. The idea is to figure out how far each player is from the starting position. Since all of the positions are on the X-axis, the distance between each player and the base is their absolute value.

• Select a cell where you want to display the absolute value.
• Go to the formula bar, and enter the formula below:

=ABS(B2)

• Press Enter.
• Grab the fill handle and drop it into the cells.
• This formula uses the ABS function to return the absolute value of the number in cell B2. The player’s position is in B2, and the absolute value of their position equals their distance from zero.

Use Absolute Value of a Matrix With ABS in Excel

Excel’s ABS function can also be used to find the absolute of a matrix. Matrices are groups of numbers, and you can use them in Excel to do math functions. Getting the absolute value of a matrix is the same as getting the absolute value of a single number, except that you need to put in the range of the matrix.

• Select the first cell in the new matrix where you want to display absolute values.
• Go to the formula bar and enter the formula below:

=ABS(A2:C4)

• Press Enter.
• This formula is similar to the previous one. The only difference is that rather than a single cell, it feeds the A2:C4 range to the ABS function.

FAQ

How to do absolute reference in Excel without F4?

If you want to maintain the original cell reference when you copy it, you “lock” it by putting a dollar sign ($) before the cell and column references. For example, when you copy the formula =$A$2+$B$2 from C2 to D2, the formula stays exactly the same. This is an absolute reference.

Can you add an absolute value in Excel?

You can use the ABS function in Excel to add up all of the absolute values. This function gives back a number’s absolute value, which is the number without the sign. So, the ABS function will return the same value if a number is positive. If a number is negative, the ABS function will give back the value in the positive form.