How to subtract, multiply and divide in Excel

In short: start with =, then use - to subtract, * to multiply, / to divide and + to add. =B2*C2 multiplies two cells, =B2-C2 subtracts one from the other. Point at cells instead of typing numbers and the result updates by itself.

Try it now

The sheet lists an office supply order. Work out the revenue for each item, which is quantity times price. Click the yellow cell and type the formula. Clicking a cell while you type inserts its reference.

Task In D2, calculate the revenue for printer paper: quantity times price. The formula is then filled down to D7 and has to be right in every row.

	A	B	C	D
1	Item	Qty	Price $	Revenue $
2	Printer paper	40	4.99
3	Toner	6	59.9
4	Binder	25	2.49
5	Ballpoint pen	120	0.79
6	Sticky notes	30	1.89
7	USB stick	10	8.5

Excel's math operators

Operation	Operator	Example	Result
Add	+	=12+3	15
Subtract	- (minus)	=12-3	9
Multiply	* (asterisk)	=12*3	36
Divide	/ (forward slash)	=12/3	4
Exponent	^ (caret)	=12^2	144

Excel does not accept an x as a multiplication sign, and it has no ÷ key. The numeric keypad has all four operators, which makes typing formulas quicker if your keyboard has one.

Multiply in Excel

To multiply two cells, type =B2*C2. A cell times a number works too: =B2*12 turns a monthly figure into a yearly one. When there are many factors, the PRODUCT function saves typing. =PRODUCT(B2:D2) multiplies every number in the range and skips empty cells and text instead of treating them as zero.

Multiply a column by one fixed cell

A common job is applying the same rate to a whole column, say a tax rate in F1. If you write =B2*F1 and fill it down, the F1 reference slides to F2, F3 and so on, which are empty. Lock it with dollar signs: =B2*$F$1. The absolute references lesson explains the dollar signs and the F4 shortcut.

Subtract in Excel, including several cells

There is no SUBTRACT function. The minus sign does the work, and you can chain as many cells as you need. Try it on a small profit calculation:

Task In B8, calculate the profit for March: revenue minus each of the four cost items below it.

	A	B
1	March	Amount $
2	Revenue	48500
3	Cost of goods	19400
4	Payroll	14200
5	Rent	3800
6	Marketing	2100
7
8	Profit

With a long list of costs, =B2-SUM(B3:B6) is easier to read and harder to get wrong: SUM totals the costs, then one minus sign takes them away. A negative result simply shows with a minus in front, which in this example would mean a loss.

Divide in Excel, and why parentheses matter

Excel follows the usual order of operations. It works through a formula in this order:

1. Anything inside parentheses
2. Exponents with ^
3. Multiplication and division, left to right
4. Addition and subtraction, left to right

So if you want to add several cells and then divide the total, the addition has to go in parentheses. In this exercise four colleagues split the cost of a business trip:

Task Four colleagues drive to a client together. In B8, work out the cost per person: all three costs added up, divided by the number of people in B6.

	A	B
1	Business trip	Amount $
2	Fuel	86.4
3	Tolls	24.6
4	Parking	18
5
6	People	4
7
8	Cost per person

Common mistakes

#DIV/0!

The divisor is zero or the cell it points to is blank. Check the reference first. If a blank divisor is expected, for instance because the figures arrive later, hide the error with =IFERROR(B2/C2,""). More on that in IFERROR.

The formula shows up as text

Without the equals sign, B2*C2 is just text to Excel. If the equals sign is there and you still see the formula, the cell is formatted as Text. Switch the format to General, click into the cell and press Enter again.

Typing numbers instead of references

=40*4.99 gives the right answer once. When the quantity in B2 changes, the result stays the same. =B2*C2 recalculates on its own and can be filled down the column.

Missing parentheses

=B2+B3/2 is not the average of two cells, because only B3 is divided by 2. Write =(B2+B3)/2, or use AVERAGE once the list gets longer.

Arithmetic in German Excel

The operators + - * / ^ are identical in every language version. What changes are function names, the argument separator and the decimal separator:

English	German
=PRODUCT(B2:D2)	=PRODUKT(B2:D2)
=B2-SUM(B3:B6)	=B2-SUMME(B3:B6)
=IFERROR(B2/C2,"")	=WENNFEHLER(B2/C2;"")
=B2*1.19	=B2*1,19

The exercises accept both spellings. Below each exercise you can choose the language of your Excel.

Which Excel versions support this?

All of them. The operators and the PRODUCT function work the same way in Excel 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, Microsoft 365, Excel for Mac and Excel for the web.

FAQ