Using the VALUE Function in Excel: Converting Text to Numbers Made Easy

Excel is a powerful spreadsheet tool that allows you to analyze and manipulate data. One of the many features available in Excel is the VALUE function, which can be used to convert text strings that represent numbers into their numeric values.

When you import data from an external source or enter data into an Excel worksheet manually, sometimes the values may be stored as text rather than numbers. In these cases, standard mathematical formulas won’t work because Excel is treating the data as text and not numbers. This is where the VALUE function comes in handy.

The VALUE function takes a single argument, which is a text string that represents a number. The function will then convert the text string into a number. For example, if you have the text string “20”, the VALUE function with the argument of “20” will return the number 20.

You can also use the VALUE function to convert text strings that represent dates into numbers that Excel recognizes as dates. For example, if you have the text string “07/30/2021”, the VALUE function with the argument of “07/30/2021” will return 43793, which is the serial number that Excel uses to represent the date 07/30/2021.