TANH Function in Excel: Hyperbolic Tangent

TANH Function in Excel: Hyperbolic Tangent 1
⏱ 1 min readUpdated 5 October 2026

Maths & trigLevel: ExpertAvailable in: Excel 2007+

In this article
  1. Syntax
  2. Examples
  3. Example 1
  4. TANH in practice
  5. Where you will use it
  6. Worked example
  7. Mistakes people make
  8. Related functions

TANH returns the hyperbolic tangent; also an activation function in neural networks.

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Syntax

=TANH(number)
Argument What it means
number Value (angles in radians)

Examples

Example 1

=ROUND(TANH(A2),5)

Result: 0. See the worked example table below for more cases.

TANH in practice

Where you will use it

  • Engineering and physics formulas
  • Catenary cables, hyperbolic growth models
  • Coursework

Worked example

xFormulaResult
0=ROUND(TANH(A2),5)0
1=ROUND(TANH(A3),5)0.76159
-2=ROUND(TANH(A4),5)-0.96403

Results calculated in Excel.

Mistakes people make

MistakeWhat to do instead
Degrees instead of radiansWrap in RADIANS for angles
Out-of-range input#NUM! or #DIV/0!

SIN · COS · TAN

📚 Part of the free Excel course: Beginner → Expert · Try it in the Formula Lab or ask the AI Helper.

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