# How to round percentages in Excel

A percentage is a decimal, so round one more place than you want to show: `=ROUND(B2,3)` keeps one decimal place of a percent (45.7%).

**Excel:** `=ROUND(B2,3)` (Every current version)

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

## Example

Sample data (row 1 is the header):

| A | B | C |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Segment | Rate | Rounded |
| A | 0.45678 |  |
| B | 0.12345 |  |
| C | 0.99951 |  |
| D | 0.07049 |  |
| E | 0.333333 |  |

Formula in C2, filled to C6: `=ROUND(B2,3)`

Result: 45.7%; 12.3%; 100.0%; 7.0%; 33.3%

## How it works

45.678% is stored as 0.45678. One decimal place of a percent is the third decimal place of the number, so ROUND uses 3 digits: 0.457, shown as 45.7%. Unlike formatting alone, ROUND changes the stored value, so later calculations use the rounded rate.

## Other ways

- `=ROUND(B2*100,1)/100`: Rounds the percentage as you read it, then turns it back into a fraction. Same result, and easier to reason about.
- `=ROUND(B2,1)`: The usual mistake: one decimal place of the fraction, not of the percentage. (Rounds to whole tens of percent, such as 50% for 45.7%.)

## Common mistakes

- Formatting with fewer decimals only changes the display; sums and comparisons still use the full value. Use ROUND when the rounded number must be used.
- Rounded shares may not add up to exactly 100%. Show a note, or adjust the largest share so the total matches.

## Questions

**How do I round a percentage to a whole percent?**

Use 2 digits: `=ROUND(B2,2)` turns 45.678% into 46%.

**How do I always round a percentage up?**

Use ROUNDUP the same way: `=ROUNDUP(B2,3)`.

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/round-percentages