Sign function

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

Description

Determines the sign of a number. Returns 1 if the number is positive, zero (0) if the number is 0, and -1 if the number is negative.

Syntax

SIGN(number)

The SIGN function syntax has the following arguments:

• Number    Required. Any real number.

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	R esult
=SIGN(10)	Sign of a positive number.	1
=SIGN(4-4)	Sign of the result of 4 minus 4 (zero).	0
=SIGN(-0.00001)	Sign of a negative number.	-1