Excel CONVERT Function

Mynda Treacy

January 17, 2013

I don’t know about you but I’m forever converting things.

In Australia we use the metric system. Our pounds are kilos, miles are kilometres, inches are centimetres and Fahrenheit is Celsius. If only it was that simple. Unfortunately none of those units convert 1:1.

I know you can Google a conversion but Excel also has an easy function that can convert almost anything.

Including some crazy things I’ve never heard of like slugs (not the garden variety I’m sure), to grams or pounds.

The syntax doesn’t even need translating into English:

=CONVERT(number, from_unit, to_unit)

Simply type in your ‘number,’ and up pops an extensive list of units you can convert.

Excel CONVERT function

Once you make your ‘from_unit’ selection the next list is limited to other units in that group:

Excel CONVERT function

You can find a complete list of units available here.

CONVERT Made Easier

Debra Dalgleish of Contextures has made it even easier and put together a workbook you can download that allows you to select the units from a drop down list.

Why not download it and keep it on your PC for future use.

Now, if only it would convert my whining 4 year old into a happy one…..

AUTHOR Mynda Treacy Co-Founder / Owner at My Online Training Hub

CIMA qualified Accountant with over 25 years experience in roles such as Global IT Financial Controller for investment banking firms Barclays Capital and NatWest Markets.

Mynda has been awarded Microsoft MVP status every year since 2014 for her expertise and contributions to educating people about Microsoft Excel.

Mynda teaches several courses here at MOTH including Excel Expert, Excel Dashboards, Power BI, Power Query and Power Pivot.

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