Skip to main content

3 methods to remove negative sign from numbers in Excel

Author: Xiaoyang Last Modified: 2024-07-12

In Excel, removing negative signs from numbers can be crucial when preparing data for reports, financial statements, or data analysis where absolute values are needed or negative values are not applicable. This guide will explore three efficient methods to remove negative signs from numbers in Excel, helping you clean and standardize your numerical data for better presentation and analysis.


Remove negative sign from numbers with ABS function

The ABS function in Excel provides a straightforward way to convert all negative numbers to positive by returning the absolute value of a number, which is the number without its sign. This section will demonstrate how to apply this function to remove negative sign from numbers.

1. Enter the following formula into a blank cell and press Enter. If the cell contains a negative value, the negative sign will be removed immediately.

=ABS(A1)

doc remove negative sign 1

2. Next, select this cell containing the formula and drag the fill handle across the range where you want to apply it. This action will remove the negative signs from all negative numbers in the selected cells, as shown in the screenshot:

doc remove negative sign 2

Note: The cells now contain formulas. If you need to use these values elsewhere without formulas, copy the cells and paste them as values into the desired location.

Several clicks to remove negative sign from numbers with Kutools

Kutools for Excel offers a robust set of tools that simplify many common tasks, including removing negative signs from numbers, through a few clicks without the need for formulas.

After installing Kutools for Excel, please apply the Change Sign of Values feature to remove negative sign from selected numbers as follows:

1. Select the number range that you want to remove the negative signs. select Kutools > Content > Change Sign of Values.

2. In the Change Sign of Values dialog box, select Change all negative values to positive option, and finally click OK. see screenshot:

doc remove negative sign 7

Now all negative numbers in the selected range have been changed to positive numbers at once.

To use this feature, you should install Kutools for Excel first, please click to download and have a 30-day free trial now!


Remove negative sign from numbers with Find and Replace command

In Excel, Find and Replace command also can help you to find the negative sign in a range and replace it with nothing and thus the number will become positive.

1. Select the range that you want to remove the negative sign.

2. Click Home > Find & Select > Replace, see screenshot:

doc remove negative sign 3

3. In the Find and Replace dialog, under the Replace tab, type the negative sign into the Find what text box, and type nothing to leave the Replace with text box blank. See screenshot:

doc remove negative sign 4

4. And then click Replace All button, all the negative signs have been removed at once, and the negative numbers have been converted to positives. See screenshot:

doc remove negative sign 5

5. Then click OK and close the Find and Replace dialog box.


Demo: Change positive numbers to negative or vice versa with Kutools for Excel

Kutools for Excel: with more than 300 handy Excel add-ins, free to try with no limitation in 30 days. Download and free trial Now!

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

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...

Description


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!
Comments (1)
No ratings yet. Be the first to rate!
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Thanks for the find and replace tip - that's exactly what I needed to solve my problem.
There are no comments posted here yet
Leave your comments
Posting as Guest
×
Rate this post:
0   Characters
Suggested Locations