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How to Do Rounding in Google Sheets

Published in Google Sheets Rounding 3 mins read

To round numbers in Google Sheets, the most common and versatile method involves using the built-in ROUND function. This function allows you to round a number to a specified number of decimal places.

Using the ROUND Function

The ROUND function takes a number and rounds it to the nearest integer or to a specified number of decimal places based on standard rounding rules (rounding .5 up).

Syntax

The syntax for the ROUND function is straightforward:

=ROUND(value, places)
  • value: The number you want to round. This can be a number directly, a cell reference (e.g., A1), or a formula that results in a number.
  • places: The number of decimal places you want to round to. This is a crucial part of the function, as highlighted in tutorials on the topic, showing how to specify exactly where you want the rounding to occur, often demonstrated by rounding to two decimal places.
    • A positive number rounds to the specified number of decimal places.
    • 0 rounds to the nearest integer.
    • A negative number rounds to the left of the decimal point (e.g., -1 rounds to the nearest 10, -2 to the nearest 100).

Specifying Decimal Places

As shown in resources demonstrating this process, you specify the number of decimal places using the second argument, places. For example, if you need to round a number like 3.14159 to two decimal places, you would use 2 as the places argument.

Examples

Here are a few examples illustrating how to use the ROUND function:

  • Rounding to a specific number of decimal places (like two):
    • =ROUND(123.4567, 2) rounds 123.4567 to 123.46. (This demonstrates specifying two decimal places, a common example shown in tutorials).
  • Rounding to the nearest integer:
    • =ROUND(7.8, 0) rounds 7.8 to 8.
    • =ROUND(7.4, 0) rounds 7.4 to 7.
  • Rounding to the left of the decimal:
    • =ROUND(45678.9, -2) rounds 45678.9 to 45700.

You can also round the result of a calculation:

  • =ROUND(SUM(A1:A5), 2) rounds the sum of the numbers in cells A1 through A5 to two decimal places.

Using the ROUND function gives you precise control over how your numbers are rounded, making your data clean and manageable.

Other Rounding Options

While ROUND is the most common function for standard rounding, Google Sheets also offers other functions for specific rounding needs:

  • ROUNDUP(value, places): Always rounds a number up to the specified number of places.
  • ROUNDDOWN(value, places): Always rounds a number down to the specified number of places.

These functions are useful when you need to ensure a number is always rounded in a specific direction, regardless of the value of the next digit. However, for general rounding, ROUND is the go-to function.

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