The Excel VALUE Function

Search this site: Custom Search Basic Description The Excel VALUE Function converts a text string into a numeric value. Excel stores values as either text or numeric values, so, for example, if you attempt to use the text value "10" in an addition, multiplication, or other numeric operation, you will get an error. Therefore, if you want to extract a numeric value from a text string, you need to convert this to a number, before Excel will be able to recognise it as a numeric value. The VALUE function can be used to do this.

The syntax of the Value function is :

where the text argument is a text string that can be translated into a number.

If the VALUE function is not able to convert the supplied text value into a number, it will return the #VALUE! error.

Value Function Examples

The following spreadsheet shows the VALUE function being used for four different examples. The spreadsheet on the left shows the format of the function and the spreadsheet on the right shows the results :

It is seen, from the examples above, that the Excel VALUE function can interpret different formats of numbers. For example,

• in the example in cell B2, the function understands the text value "1.0E-07" to represent the scientific notation for the number 0.0000001
• in the example in cell B3, the function understands the text value "5,000" to represent the number 50000

However, in the example in cell B4, the VALUE function is not able to interpret the currency $ symbol as part of a number, so it produces the #VALUE! error message.

Further information and examples of the Excel Value function can be found on the Microsoft Office website.

Value Function Error

If you get an error from the Excel Value function, this is most likely to be the #VALUE! error: