How To Make All Numbers Negative In Excel

To make all numbers negative in Excel means to convert all positive numbers in a given range or column to their negative equivalent. This can be useful for a variety of reasons, such as when you want to highlight losses or negative values in your data, or when you need to perform calculations that require negative numbers.

In this tutorial, we will learn how to make all numbers negative in excel. Our dataset contains different numbers(positive and negative), and we need to convert them to negative values. To do this, we have two methods, the first method is by using the IF function and the second is by using the ABS function. The following steps will guide you to use the IF function.

Method 1: Using IF function to convert numbers to negative

IF function is one of the logical functions, to return one value if a condition is true and another if it’s false. Syntax of IF function is:

=IF(logical_test, value_if_true, value_if_false)

The function uses the following arguments:

Logical_test (required argument): This condition is tested and evaluated as either TRUE or FALSE.
Value_if_true (optional argument): The value that will be returned if the logical_test evaluates to TRUE.
Value_if_false (optional argument): The value that will be returned if the logical_test evaluates to FALSE

Step 1 – Select a cell

Click on the cell where you want the negative number

Step 2 – Use The IF function

To use IF function, type “ =IF(” in the selected cell

Step 3 – Type the Arguments

Type the arguments of the IF function as shown below:
Logical_Test: A2>0
Value_if_true: A2*-1
Value_if_false: A2
After typing the arguments, type a closing bracket “)”

Step 4 – Press Enter Key

After typing the arguments, press enter key to get the required result

Step 5 – Apply on the Entire Column

After getting the result in the selected cell, use autofill to apply the IF function to the entire column

Method 2: Make all number negative using the negative ABS function

The ABS function in Excel is a mathematical function that returns the absolute value of a number.It’s Syntax is:

=ABS(number)

The ABS function in Excel takes one argument, which is the number for which you want to calculate the absolute value. The argument can be a number or a reference to a cell that contains a number.