Comments on: How to subtract in Excel: formula for numbers, percentages, dates and times

Subtraction is one of the four basic arithmetic operations, and every primary school pupil knows that to subtract one number from another you use the minus sign. This good old method also works for subtracting numbers and cells in Excel. Continue reading →

Comments page 3. Total comments: 111

  1. Hi Svetlana

    I hope this find you well
    I am trying to find a formula to subtract the first 6 digits from a large string of digits, from one cell to another across column A and B
    column A Column B
    1234567891011122 123456
    1234567891011122
    1234567891011122
    1234567891011122
    many thanks
    Amanda

    1. Hello Amanda!
      If the result should be a number, then use the formula

      =--LEFT(TEXT(A1,"####"),6)

      I hope this will help, otherwise please do not hesitate to contact me anytime.

  2. Greetings....
    Is it possible to subtract a number in a cell that is created by a formula? Example: Cell D43 has manually inputted number of 53.99, Cell D44 has a number of -4.00 which is the product of this formula =IF(D43=45.99;"-3.24";IF(D43=47.99;"-3.24";IF(D43=53.99;"-4.00";IF(D43=63.99;"-3.25"))))

  3. Hello
    lets say i have column with salaries that sums up at the end of the column is it possible to subtract a cell by highlighting it with color >>> so when the cell is highlighted the the number is subtracted from the total
    thanks

  4. Hello,
    I need to create a formula to calculate shift times, column A is start time, column B is finish time but it goes over to the next day and excel does not recognise this when substracting =B1-A1.
    What can I do?
    Thank you

  5. Hello,
    I am attempting to create a formula that gives a value based of a range of cells when a new cell has data entered into. For example, i have set value in B1. When data is entered in C1, then i need the formula to =C1-B1. When data is entered in D1, then the formula should generate a value from D1-B1. And so on. Is this possible?

  6. Hello. Can you tell me the formula if i want to subtract 1gram for each 10gram. For example if i punch in 79 in a cell in another cell it will be 72. And if i punch in 50 it will be 45. Your help would be appreciated thx

  7. Lot of thanks team ablebits.com. This forum is fantastic. Your help is beyond words

    Best regards
    AK.

  8. good work!

  9. I’m trying to make a formula or command that if there is an actual number imputed in a specific cell then subtract the next actual imputed number from above in the same column. The numbers won’t be put in in the same cells all the time in that column. Example
    1 2 3 4
    A
    B 300
    C
    D 600. I want cell D2 to take D1 and subtract it from
    B1. But the formula needs to know that the 300 could have been in c1 or a1. I Want this to set up over 31 rows

  10. Thank you so much!!

  11. Hi. i'm mic. I have designed a box on a worksheet and includes letters From (A) to (Y) in columns B up to L out of 12 rows. The whole column A is where I input my data entry to receive results in this box. ie Column B has (5) edited bold letters from A to E. Skipping column C, column D has 5 letters from F to J. And skipping column E, column F has 5 letters from K to O. And this continues up to the last letter Y in column J. E.g Capital letter (A) is in column B2:3, letter (B) is in column B4:5, letter (C) is in column B6:7, and this continues up to (E) of column B. And this is also true to all the letters in the given columns. These letters represent the names of items that begin with these letters. And going to the cells of skipped columns, its where I receive the sum of each letter's existence in column A after an input. For example, letter (A) in column B has 2 cells, c2 and c3 in column C, and c3 (which is the down cell) is to give me the sum of A's appearance after its entry in column A. And here, all the down cells of the skipped columns are to give me the sum of each letters appearance in column A, and here I already used the COUNTIF function to do that for me. WHAT I WANT you to do for me is this. Lets say most letters in this box have different sums of entry from column A in their down cells, and in this case letter G has the sum of 6 entries in its down sum cell, yet G is the next entry but has not been entered in columm A since the last 13 entries. After its entry, how can I use letter G's upper cell (column C5) to count 0(zero) whenever G is entered and again start counting from 1 to 100( or more) if a another letter in entered. Or if letter A has the sum of 0(zero) in its down cell(that is column C3) since 36 last entries of other letters in column A, let column C2 (the upper cell) count 36 as its last(or none) entry in column A, and RETURN counting to zero if A is entered. Let the upper cells in the skipped columns of each letter independently count(sum) the number of times they were last entered and RETURN counting from zero when they have been entered in column A. What formula should I use to do this. PLIZ I NEED YOUR HELP. THX.

  12. ON HAND 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
    430 20 100 100 200 70 10 10 100 100 100
    COVERED COVERED COVERED COVERED ONLY 10 Not Covered Not Covered Not Covered Not Covered Not Covered

    the following line shows how the formula needs to put the correct info see below
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
    0 0 0 0 60 10 10 100 100 100

    hi

    Based on my HAND I can cover from week 1 to week 4 and 10 pcs for week 5 and the rest of the week wont cover
    Can you please help me to get the correct funtion and formula to use on this task ? pLease help thanks

  13. Hello,
    I created a spreadsheet that will subtract my postal charges from the total amount I created in a purchase request. Example: The Purchase request amount is $3,000.00, which populates cell F5. the mailing charges are subtracted for each cell in column G, so in cell G5 I typed $5.22 and then the results are shown in column H, or in this case cell H5, which tells me my remaining balance is $2,994.78. I now want the remaining balances I see for each individual cell in column H to show up in column F so that I don't have to type it in each cell in column F each time I get the balance. For example I want the $2,994.78 I see in cell H5 to now show up in F6. Then I will have the $2,994.78 in F6 subtract the mailing charge in G6 and get the remaining balance in H6, which will then reflect in F7 and so on. Is there a way to make this work?

  14. PLEASE SUGGEST THE FORMULA FOR SUBTRACTION RESTRICTION WITH A NUMBER, SUPPOSE IN A TABLE VARIOUS ROWS FOR SUBTRACTION ARE THERE, THE AMOUNT TO BE SUBTRACTED IF BECOMES MORE THAN A CERTAIN NUMBER, THEN ALSO THE CERTAIN NUMBER ONLY SHOULD BE SUBTRACTED NOT THAT MORE NUMBER.

    1. How to perform subtraction of 3 billion (3,000,000,000) frm 2 Septillion (2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000)?
      It wun give the correct answer as if the 3B has been ignored.

  15. I need help could you teach me how can I take the bonus for 2142worked hours 1500 hours must subtract the remaining hour it cost 10$. can you show me what formula i should use to see the bonus? ASAP thanks

    1. TEXT ME HERE FOR CLASSES

  16. I need a formula in excel that will add and subtract accrued time but not allow total to go over 384?

  17. Dear Sir,
    I don't want to put in the value every time I want to subtract one particular number from that cell. I tried placing that number in one cell and click it with =a1-b1 but this when extended using the easy option it selects the next one so I don't get the value. I don't want to put it inside the formula every time, cause this will be entered by someone else, that value they put in should be subtracted from all without making them the use of the formula.

  18. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR ME
    THANK YOU

  19. i have followed this to the letter... just trying to subtract one column from the other.... does not work.

    1. Hi Dana,
      You may want to download our sample workbook and see how the formula is implemented there. Hope that will be helpful.

  20. I have a cell with the formula =DATEDIF(G7,C2,"d") to get the number of days since a breeding event for cattle. I would like to be able to have another cell that automatically subtracts that number from 282, changing each day (like a countdown of days left, where 282 is the total days in gestation so I know how many days until they are due).

    Thank you!
    Lindsay

    1. Hi Lindsay,
      How about using the Excel DAYS function instead of the DATEDIF one? If that is okay with you, the formula is as follows:
      =282 - DAYS(TODAY(), G7)

  21. Honestly, this is awesome! It was as if i was face-to-face in a classroom with my tutor. This is excel made simple. Thank you so much.

  22. I have value in cell a1 (1801381), I need to multiple that value by 1.05% (1891450), then subtract the value in cell A1 (1801381) from 1891450. What would that formula look like?

  23. subtract function does not exist in excel ???? but you write =c1-c2 let say. too me it looks like a function but it works only once why ?

    1. Hi Bob,

      Functions and formulas are a bit different things.

      Function is a predefined formula already available in Excel. Functions perform specific calculations based on the specified values, called arguments, or parameters.

      For example, Excel provides a built-in function to add up numbers: SUM(number1,[number2],...)

      A built-in SUBTRACT function does not exist. But you can make your own subtract formula like =A1-A2

  24. Hi,
    I'm currently trying to write a function for a time sheet at work and am having a little bit of trouble. My goal is to alert my boss when a task is close to being due but i've run into a bump thats making me scratch my head a little.
    C5= 193 (HOURS ALLOWED ON PROJECT) E5= 183 (HOURS ACCUMULATED)
    IF(C5=E5-10,"10 Hours Left")))
    Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

    1. Cameron,

      It's not really a formula but if you were to type the following, it'll give you results that I think you're looking for:

      =IF(E5=183,"10 Hours Left","")

      If you need more help on your spreadsheet let me know. Ann

  25. Hi..
    I have students list with Marks & Rank and i want to find 1-10 marks how many students and their ranks in Brackets
    For Example
    1-10 marks
    10 students(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10)Ranks

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