VALUE function

This article describes the formula syntax and usage of the VALUE  function in Microsoft Excel.

Description

Converts a text string that represents a number to a number.

Syntax

VALUE(text)

The VALUE function syntax has the following arguments:

• Text    Required. The text enclosed in quotation marks or a reference to a cell containing the text you want to convert.

Remarks

• Text can be in any of the constant number, date, or time formats recognized by Microsoft Excel. If text is not in one of these formats, VALUE returns the #VALUE! error value.

• You do not generally need to use the VALUE function in a formula because Excel automatically converts text to numbers as necessary. This function is provided for compatibility with other spreadsheet programs.

Example

Copy the example data in the following table, and paste it in cell A1 of a new Excel worksheet. For formulas to show results, select them, press F2, and then press Enter. If you need to, you can adjust the column widths to see all the data.

Formula	Description	Result
=VALUE("$1,000")	Number equivalent of the text string "$1,000"	1000
=VALUE("16:48:00")-VALUE("12:00:00")	The serial number equivalent to 4 hours and 48 minutes, which is "16:48:00" minus "12:00:00" (0.2 = 4:48).	0.2