How to get rid of decimals in Excel

You can watch a video tutorial here.

Excel is frequently used for calculations and has many functions to help with basic mathematical operations.  The way a number is displayed in a cell is different from the way that it is stored.  When working with numbers, you may want to get rid of the decimals so that a whole number is displayed. In Excel, there are 2 ways that you can get rid of the decimals:

1. Change the way the number is displayed by using the button on the ribbon
2. Round off the number to the nearest whole number using the ROUND() function
   1. Syntax: ROUND(number, num_digits)

1. number: this is the number to be rounded
2. num_digits: the number of decimal places to which the number is to be rounded

Option 1 – Use the button on the ribbon

Step 1 – Select the data 

• Select the data for which the decimals are to be removed

Step 2 – Decrease the decimal places

• Go to Home > Number
• Keep clicking the Decrease Decimal  button until all the decimal places have disappeared

Note: this only changes the way that the number is displayed and does not get rid of the decimal places permanently.

Option 2 – Use the ROUND() function

Step 1 – Add the ROUND() function to the number

• Select the cell next to the number to be rounded
• Type the formula using cell references:

=ROUND(Cost,0)

• Press Enter

Step 2 – Copy the formula

• Using the fill handle from the first cell, drag the formula to the remaining cells

OR

1. Select the cell with the formula and press Ctrl+C or choose Copy from the context menu (right-click)
2. Select the rest of the cells in the column and press Ctrl+V or choose Paste from the context menu (right-click)

Step 3 – Decrease the decimal places

• Go to Home > Number
• Keep clicking the Decrease Decimal  button until all the decimal places have disappeared

Note: this method gets rid of the decimals permanently and does not just change the way that the number is displayed.