Skip to main content

Sum absolute values in Excel - A complete guide

Author: Xiaoyang Last Modified: 2025-04-10

Suppose you have a list containing both positive and negative numbers and you wish to sum their absolute values, effectively treating all negatives as positives. For instance, the sum of 10 and -10 would be 20, not 0. Are there any quick methods in Excel to help you calculate these absolute values? This tutorial provides different solutions to meet your needs.

A screenshot showing a dataset with positive and negative numbers in Excel and the sum of their absolute values


Sum the absolute values with formulas

Here are some useful formulas for you to sum the absolute values. Please look at this:

Formula 1: Use SUM and ABS functions

Please enter below formula into a cell where you want to display the result, and press "Ctrl" + "Shift" + "Enter" keys to get the sum.

=SUM(ABS(A2:A14))
Formula 2: Use SUMPRODUCT and ABS functions

This "Sumproduct" formula can also help you. Type the following formula and press the "Enter" key to get the sum of the absolute values..

=SUMPRODUCT(ABS(A2:A14))
Formula 3: Use SUMIF function

With the following two SUMIF functions, you can quickly calculate the sum of the absolute values, do as this:

1. In a blank cell which you want to put the result, enter one of below formulas, and press the "Enter" key.

=SUMIF(A2:A14,">0") - SUMIF(A2:A14,"<0")
=SUM(SUMIF(A2:A14,{">0","<0"})*{1,-1})

An example of using SUMIF formulas to sum absolute values in Excel


Easily sum absolute values with an amazing tool

Using the "Sum Absolute Value" features of "Kutools for Excel" can quickly help you calculate the absolute values of numbers in a range without the need to memorize and execute formulas.

Kutools for Excel offers over 300 advanced features to streamline complex tasks, boosting creativity and efficiency. Itegarate with AI capabilities, Kutools automates tasks with precision, making data management effortless. Detailed information of Kutools for Excel...         Free trial...

After installing Kutools for Excel, go to the Kutools tab and select "Kutools" > "Formula" > "Formula Helper".

In the "Formula Helper" dialog, you need to configure as follows.

  1. Select "Math" from the "Formula Helper" drop-down list
  2. Select "Sum absolute values" in the "Choose a formula" list box
  3. Select the range of numbers you will sum, and finally click "OK".
    A screenshot of the Formula Helper in Kutools for Excel for summing absolute values
Result

Now, you have the sum of the absolute values of the selected numbers.

A screenshot of the result showing the sum of absolute values in Excel using Kutools

Kutools for Excel - Supercharge Excel with over 300 essential tools. Enjoy permanently free AI features! Get It Now


Sum the absolute values by changing all negative numbers to positive in Excel

Apart from formulas, we can change all negative numbers to positive ones and then sum up these numbers. And you can apply the "Change Sign of Values" utility of "Kutools for Excel" to get it done with ease.

Kutools for Excel offers over 300 advanced features to streamline complex tasks, boosting creativity and efficiency. Itegarate with AI capabilities, Kutools automates tasks with precision, making data management effortless. Detailed information of Kutools for Excel...         Free trial...

1. Select a blank cell below the numbers whose absolute values you will add, type the formula into it, and press the "Enter" key.

=SUM(A2:A14)
A2:A14 is the number cells whose absolute values you will sum.
A screenshot of the SUM formula used in Excel to sum a range of numbers

2. Select these number cells (A2:A14 in our case), and click "Kutools" > "Content" > "Change Sign of Values".
A screenshot of selecting Change Sign of Values under the Content menu in Kutools tab in Excel

3. In the opening "Change Sign of Values" dialog box, please check the "Change all negative values to positive" option, and click the "Ok" button.
A screenshot of the Change Sign of Values dialog box with the option to convert all negative values to positive

Now all negative values are converted to positive values, and the sum result updates automatically.
A screenshot of the final result after converting all negative values to positive and summing the numbers

Kutools for Excel - Supercharge Excel with over 300 essential tools. Enjoy permanently free AI features! Get It Now


Related articles:


Best Office Productivity Tools

🤖 Kutools AI Aide: Revolutionize data analysis based on: Intelligent Execution   |  Generate Code  |  Create Custom Formulas  |  Analyze Data and Generate Charts  |  Invoke Kutools Functions…
Popular Features: Find, Highlight or Identify Duplicates   |  Delete Blank Rows   |  Combine Columns or Cells without Losing Data   |   Round without Formula ...
Super Lookup: Multiple Criteria VLookup    Multiple Value VLookup  |   VLookup Across Multiple Sheets   |   Fuzzy Lookup ....
Advanced Drop-down List: Quickly Create Drop Down List   |  Dependent Drop Down List   |  Multi-select Drop Down List ....
Column Manager: Add a Specific Number of Columns  |  Move Columns  |  Toggle Visibility Status of Hidden Columns  |  Compare Ranges & Columns ...
Featured Features: Grid Focus   |  Design View   |   Big Formula Bar    Workbook & Sheet Manager   |  Resource Library (Auto Text)   |  Date Picker   |  Combine Worksheets   |  Encrypt/Decrypt Cells    Send Emails by List   |  Super Filter   |   Special Filter (filter bold/italic/strikethrough...) ...
Top 15 Toolsets12 Text Tools (Add Text, Remove Characters, ...)   |   50+ Chart Types (Gantt Chart, ...)   |   40+ Practical Formulas (Calculate age based on birthday, ...)   |   19 Insertion Tools (Insert QR Code, Insert Picture from Path, ...)   |   12 Conversion Tools (Numbers to Words, Currency Conversion, ...)   |   7 Merge & Split Tools (Advanced Combine Rows, Split Cells, ...)   |   ... and more
Use Kutools in your preferred language – supports English, Spanish, German, French, Chinese, and 40+ others!

Supercharge Your Excel Skills with Kutools for Excel, and Experience Efficiency Like Never Before. Kutools for Excel Offers Over 300 Advanced Features to Boost Productivity and Save Time.  Click Here to Get The Feature You Need The Most...


Office Tab Brings Tabbed interface to Office, and Make Your Work Much Easier

  • Enable tabbed editing and reading in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Access, Visio and Project.
  • Open and create multiple documents in new tabs of the same window, rather than in new windows.
  • Increases your productivity by 50%, and reduces hundreds of mouse clicks for you every day!