Excel Convert Function

What this does

CONVERT translates a value from one unit of measure to another using unit codes given as text: mass, distance, time, temperature, pressure, energy, volume and more. It replaces the hand-typed conversion factors that quietly rot in spreadsheets, and it refuses nonsense — converting kilograms to kilometres returns #N/A rather than a number. The unit codes are case-sensitive, which is the most common stumbling block: "g" is grams and "G" is a metric prefix. Temperature uses "C", "F" and "K", and unlike the others those conversions are not simple multiplications, which CONVERT handles for you. Most people learn this as a sequence of clicks and forget it by next week; learning it as a pattern instead is what lets you apply it to the next, slightly different version of the problem without starting from scratch. That is the difference this page is trying to make. The difference between a quick fix and a sheet you can trust is the extra minute you spend validating “excel convert function”. Start on a copy or a tiny sample, keep the affected formula visible, and compare the result with the tool above before you touch the real workbook. When a formula is involved, keep the inputs labelled beside it, reference cells instead of typing values, and apply number formatting only after the result checks out. The point is a data step that keeps your analysis trustworthy, but the practical win is that someone else can open the file and understand what happened without asking you.

A worked example

Miles to kilometres: =CONVERT(5, "mi", "km") returns 8.0467. Pounds to kilograms: =CONVERT(180, "lbm", "kg") returns about 81.65 — note the code is "lbm" for pound-mass, not "lb". Fahrenheit to Celsius: =CONVERT(98.6, "F", "C") returns 37, applying the offset as well as the factor. CONVERT replaces the hand-typed conversion factor — the one nobody re-checks and that is wrong in more spreadsheets than anyone would like. A practical tip before you scale it up: build it once on a small block of test data, confirm the number against the tool on this page, and only then point it at your real sheet. That one habit catches almost every mistake while it is still cheap to fix, long before a wrong figure reaches a report or a colleague.

In Google Sheets

Everything above works in Google Sheets too. Excel and Sheets share the formula syntax used here; only the surrounding menus are arranged differently. That portability is deliberate — learn it once and it follows you between the two tools and across Windows and Mac. Nothing on this page is behind a login: the tool runs entirely in your browser, the formula is shown in full with one-click copy, and the steps work the same on Windows and Mac. That is the whole promise here — the exact answer, a way to prove it on your own numbers, and just enough context to make it stick. Treat “excel convert function” as a small building block rather than a chore. Once the inputs sit in their own cells and the formula reads from them, the same setup answers a dozen related questions with a tweak, and Excel keeps every dependent figure current as the data changes. The tool above is there so you can rehearse and verify before committing anything to a real workbook; the steps and worked example are there so the logic sticks. Get it right once and it stops costing you time — it starts saving it, every time the question comes back around.

Common mistakes

• Getting the case wrong — the codes are case-sensitive, so "Km" fails where "km" works.
• Converting between incompatible quantities, such as mass to length, which returns #N/A.
• Assuming a code exists for every unit; the list is fixed, and anything outside it needs a manual factor.

Frequently asked questions