Converting to Hexadecimal

Summary: One of the numbering systems often used by programmers is hexadecimal. Excel includes a function (DEC2HEX) that allows you to convert decimal values to hexadecimal. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, and Excel 2003.)

If you do any programming, you know how important hexadecimal numbers are. Hexadecimal numbers are used to represent values that can be easily understood by both humans and programming languages. In the hexadecimal numbering system, each digit can vary between 0 and F. Thus, 0 through 9 are the same as in our decimal numbering system, and A through F are converted to 10 through 15 in decimal.

How can Excel help with hexadecimal numbers? It includes a worksheet function that allows you to easily convert a number from decimal to hexadecimal. For instance, let's say you have a decimal value in E3. If you wanted to know the hexadecimal equivalent, you would use the following:

=DEC2HEX(E3)

If the value in E3 was 123, the result of the above formula would be 7B. The DEC2HEX worksheet function can be used to convert any decimal values between -549,755,813,888 and 549,755,813,887.

Once the conversion is done, the value in the cell is considered text. This means that you cannot use the results of DEC2HEX in a numeric formula.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2308) applies to Microsoft Excel versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

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Converting to Hexadecimal