The DEC2HEX function with examples in Excel

The DEC2HEX function in Microsoft Excel converts a decimal number to its hexadecimal equivalent. Here’s how it works:

• Syntax: DEC2HEX(number, [places])

  • number: The decimal integer you want to convert. If the number is negative, the places argument is ignored, and DEC2HEX returns a 10-character (40-bit) hexadecimal number. The most significant bit represents the sign, and the remaining 39 bits represent magnitude (using two’s-complement notation for negative numbers).
  • places (optional): The number of characters to use. If omitted, DEC2HEX uses the minimum necessary characters. It’s useful for padding the return value with leading zeros.

• If number is less than -549,755,813,888 or greater than 549,755,813,887, DEC2HEX returns the #NUM! error value.

• If number is non-numeric, DEC2HEX returns the #VALUE! error value.

• If the result of DEC2HEX requires more characters than specified by places, it returns the #NUM! error value. For example, DEC2HEX(64,1) returns an error because the result (40) requires two characters.

• If places is not an integer, its value is truncated. If places is negative, DEC2HEX returns the #NUM! error value.

Here are some examples:

1. To convert decimal 100 to hexadecimal with 4 characters (padded with two leading zeros): =DEC2HEX(100, 4) ➡️ Result: 0064
2. To convert decimal -54: =DEC2HEX(-54) ➡️ Result: FFFFFFFCA
3. To convert decimal 28: =DEC2HEX(28) ➡️ Result: 1C
4. Attempting to convert decimal 64 with only 1 character place: =DEC2HEX(64,1) ➡️ Result: #NUM!

Feel free to try it out in your Excel worksheet!