# Why does my percentage show as a decimal in Excel?

A percentage is stored as a fraction (0.75). Keep the formula =B2/C2 and apply the % number format; don't multiply by 100.

**Excel:** `=B2/C2` (Every current version)

**Google Sheets:** the same formula works.

## Example

Sample data (row 1 is the header):

| A | B | C | D |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Project | Tasks done | Tasks total | % complete |
| Website | 18 | 24 |  |
| Rebrand | 7 | 20 |  |
| Video | 12 | 12 |  |
| Ads | 3 | 16 |  |
| Events | 9 | 30 |  |

Formula in D2, filled to D6: `=B2/C2`

Result: 75.0%; 35.0%; 100.0%; 18.8%; 30.0%

## How it works

A percentage is a fraction: 18 of 24 is 0.75. The % format displays that value times 100 with a percent sign, as 75.0%, without changing it. So the formula only divides, and the format does the rest.

## Other ways

- `=ROUND(B2/C2,3)`: Rounds the stored value to 0.1%, so it matches what is shown. (Ads is stored as 18.8% instead of 18.75%.)
- `=B2/C2*100`: Gives the percentage as a plain number like 75. Don't also apply the % format, or it shows 7500%. (Shows 7500.0% and so on, because the % format multiplies by 100 again.)

## Common mistakes

- Multiplying by 100 and applying the % format shows 7500%. Do one or the other.
- A format without decimals shows 18.75% as 19%. Add decimals with Increase Decimal.
- In formulas, write a percentage as 20% or 0.2. Typing 20 means 2,000%.

## Questions

**How do I put a percentage into text?**

`=TEXT(B2/C2,"0.0%")` returns "75.0%" as text, ready to join into a label.

**Why does my percentage show 0%?**

The value is below 0.5% and the format has no decimals. Add decimal places.

Every formula and result on this page was checked by running it in the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine on 2026-10-30.

Source: https://spreadsheetpractice.com/formulas/percentage-shows-as-decimal