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MS Excel: How to use the NUMBERVALUE Function (WS)

This Excel tutorial explains how to use the Excel NUMBERVALUE function with syntax and examples.

Description

The Microsoft Excel NUMBERVALUE function converts a text value to a number by specifying the decimal and group separators.

The NUMBERVALUE function is a built-in function in Excel that is categorized as a String/Text Function. It can be used as a worksheet function (WS) in Excel. As a worksheet function, the NUMBERVALUE function can be entered as part of a formula in a cell of a worksheet.

Excel NUMBERVALUE Function

If you want to follow along with this tutorial, download the example spreadsheet.

Download Example

Syntax

The syntax for the NUMBERVALUE function in Microsoft Excel is:

NUMBERVALUE( text, [decimal_separator], [group_separator] )

Parameters or Arguments

text
The text value that you wish to convert to number.
decimal_separator
Optional. It is the character used as the decimal separator in the text value.
group_separator
Optional. It is the character used as the group separator in the text value.

Returns

The NUMBERVALUE function returns a numeric value.

Note

  • If any arguments are not valid, #VALUE! will be returned
  • If the group separator appears after the decimal separater in the text value, #VALUE! will be returned
  • If multiple decimal separators appear in the text value, #VALUE! will be returned
  • If multiple characters are provided in the separator fields, only the first character will be used in each field
  • If an empty text value is provided, a value of 0 will be returned
  • If separator values are not provided, the current locale values are used
  • Spaces in the text value are ignored
  • Percent signs appearing at the end of the text value will affect the result. For example: =NUMBERVALUE("15%") will return the same result as entering =15% into a cell.

Applies To

  • Excel for Office 365, Excel 2019, Excel 2016

Type of Function

  • Worksheet function (WS)

Example (as Worksheet Function)

Let's look at some Excel NUMBERVALUE function examples and explore how to use the NUMBERVALUE function as a worksheet function in Microsoft Excel:

Excel NUMBERVALUE Function

Based on the Excel spreadsheet above, the following NUMBERVALUE examples would return:

=NUMBERVALUE(A2, ".", ",")
Result: 1000.5      'Uses a period for the decimal separator and a comma as a group separator

=NUMBERVALUE(A3, ".", ",");
Result: 300000.1    'Group separators do not have to be on thousand intervals

=NUMBERVALUE(A4, ".", ",")
Result: 3000        'Spaces are ignored in the text value

=NUMBERVALUE("4_250:50", ":", "_")
Result: 4250.50     'Separators can be characters other than commas and periods

=NUMBERVALUE("1.200,70", ",", ".")
Result: 1200.7      'Some regions use commas as decimal separators and periods as group separators
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