Spreadsheets are one of the most useful work tools today , especially when it comes to calculating the percentage in Excel.
Its use is not limited to any area , this type of calculations are necessary in different areas. In offices, stores, educational facilities, businesses, and countless more.
So therein lies the utility generated by the fact that Excel has a mode that makes it much easier to get percentages . In the same way, you can show numbers as fractions without simplifying and insert all the mathematical formulas and operations you want .
First of all, it is important to clarify what exactly a percentage is, and this is nothing more than a quantity or number that represents a fraction of the number 100.
In other words, it is a part of a general number that should be considered divided by 100 units. The symbol with which this fraction is represented is ” % “.
In this sense , saying 25% is the same as 25/100 and equivalent to 0.25 . One of the most common uses of this calculation is when purchasing a product on sale.
Thus, if the marked price is 1,000 and has a discount rate of 25% should take the following relationship: 1.000×25 / 100 , or , 1.000×0.25 .
Giving us a result of 250, this would be 25% of 1,000 or what is equal to the part of the total that is on offer. That is, it would be discounted from the final price.
Index( )
- How to calculate percentage in Excel
- Find the difference between two numbers
- Calculate percentage in Excel based on two quantities
- How to Calculate Excel Percentage in Multiple Cells
- Formulas to get the percentage from Excel
- Principles for calculating an Excel percentage in multiple cells
How to calculate percentage in Excel
This is a simple task when, to calculate the percentage in Excel, you use the built-in function in which a cell is formatted as “ Percentage ”.
Thus, the spreadsheet will perform this assignment automatically when placing the symbol (%) , it can also be modified manually in the top menu.
Now, the formula to get the percentages is basically: the letter and the cell number of the general amount, divided by the letter and the number of the cell with the percentage.
But for Excel to perform the calculation, this must be placed in the cell where we want the result. For instance:
In cell C3 (where we want the end) we must write: = A2 / B2 . In this way you will get the percentage of B2 with respect to A2.
Find the difference between two numbers
Knowing how to get percentages, you can proceed to do it between two numbers. This can be useful when it is necessary to establish the differences between two quantities and represent it as a percentage.
For which, the first value would be located in cell B3 and the second, in cell C3. From there, the formula = (C3-B3) / ABS (B3) in the cell where we want the difference to result.
This is possible, since the ABS function is being used, so the formula divides the difference between the second value and the first by the absolute value of the first digit, which generates the percentage variation between both figures.
Calculate percentage in Excel based on two quantities
In this case, as the headline indicates, it is about getting the percentage that one number represents with respect to another. This calculation is quite necessary, for example, for teachers who must establish the percentage of correct answers on an exam, or the percentage that a student’s grade represents over the total. There are other uses too.
For this, the variable or real value is placed in cell B3 and the total value in C3 (in this example, it varies according to use). To be able to apply the formula as follows:
= B3 / C3 and must be written in the cell where the result is desired. Excel accomplishes this calculation by dividing the value of B3 by C3 to obtain the percentage with respect to C3.
How to Calculate Excel Percentage in Multiple Cells
If what you want is to be able to calculate the percentage of the values in several boxes at the same time, follow these steps:
- Open the Excel sheetwhere you want to work,
- Choose which cells you want to taketo calculate their percentage
- You must also choose in which of the cells you want the result to be displayedand locate yourself on it.
- Click on the “F (x)” symbol in theupper menu, you must press the accept button before the two questions it asks you to continue with the process.
- Delete all the content shown in the formula bar and write the formula you want to use to calculate the percentage of the two cells, for example you can put (B9 / B15 * 100)
- Then left click on that same space of the formula and select the option “Format cell”.
- Choose the “Percentage” optionin the new options window that appears and in the “Decimal places” section, enter the number of decimal places that you want to be expressed in the result, normally two decimal places are used.
- Press “OK” and you will see how the cells will be filled automatically with the formula that you just wrote. When you write a value in those cells, the result will be displayed expressed in percentage.
Formulas to get the percentage from Excel
Next, we explain which are the simplest formulas to apply the percentage calculation to the value of a cell:
If you want to calculate a specific percentage of a number, for example, 10% of 350 , the operation you must perform will be: = 350 * 10/100
Therefore, having the value of the number to calculate contained in a cell, you only have to identify in which cell the value you want to calculate is located and apply it to the formula, suppose that the value of 350 is with cell A12, then our formula will be: = A12 * 10/100 . The cell where you write the formula will be the same cell where the calculation result will be displayed, in this case the result will be: 35
Another way to achieve this is by placing the value of the percentage that we want to calculate in a cell next to the value to which we want to get that percentage, for example, in cell A1 we will have the value or number to which we want to calculate the percentage, in cell B1 the value of the percentage with the symbol “%” within the same cell for example: 10%, and in a last cell, the one we want to see the result, we will write the formula to multiply our initial value by the box where the value of the percentage that we need to know, for example in the selected cell to display the result you must write = A1 * B1
Principles for calculating an Excel percentage in multiple cells
When we are going to calculate the percentage of a number we must be clear about the mathematical method to achieve it, the first thing you should know is that Excel uses the quantity / total = percentage format to be able to calculate the percentage of a number.
The amount of operations that you can perform in Excel using percentages are enormous , you can add percentages, calculate the difference between the difference of two numbers, subtract percentages, apply operations when certain values are met, you can combine percentage formulas with advanced Excel functions , the possibilities are many, so you can always consult our website if you have any doubts that may arise.
