SIGN Function in Excel: Positive, Negative or Zero?

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MathLevel: IntermediateAvailable in: Excel 2007+

In this article

1. Syntax
2. Examples
3. Example 1
4. Example 2
5. SIGN in practice
6. Where you will use it
7. Worked example
8. Mistakes people make
9. Related functions
10. Continue learning

SIGN returns 1 for positive, −1 for negative and 0 for zero — neat for direction arrows and counting gains vs losses.

Syntax

=SIGN(number)

Argument	What it means
number	Any number.

Examples

Example 1

=CHOOSE(SIGN(C2-B2)+2, "▼", "–", "▲")

Up/down/flat arrow versus last month.

Example 2

=SUMPRODUCT(--(SIGN(D2:D100)=1))

Count of positive changes.

SIGN in practice

Where you will use it

• Show up/down arrows from variance
• Direction of change
• Convert to +1/-1 multipliers

Worked example

Variance	Formula	Result
2500	=CHOOSE(SIGN(A2)+2,"▼","–","▲")	▲
-800	=CHOOSE(SIGN(A3)+2,"▼","–","▲")	▼
0	=CHOOSE(SIGN(A4)+2,"▼","–","▲")	–

Results calculated in Excel.

Mistakes people make

Mistake	What to do instead
Expecting text	SIGN gives -1, 0 or 1
Tiny values	Round first so 0.0001 isn't +1

Related functions

ABS · IF

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📎 Practice files for this article

• 📗
  Practice workbook: Math & rounding24 tasks on realistic sales data — type your formula, the Check column turns green when it is right. Answers sheet included.
  ⬇ XLSX · 35 KB

Free to use for learning. Files with macros (.bas) are plain text — import them with Alt+F11 → File → Import File, and always test on a copy.