How to get the absolute value (and sum absolute values)
✓ Verified in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3Strip the sign from numbers — distances, error magnitudes, reconciling debits and credits.
The formula
| App | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Excel | =ABS(A2) | Sum a whole range's magnitudes in one cell: =SUMPRODUCT(ABS(A2:A10)). |
| Google Sheets | =ABS(A2) | Identical, including the SUMPRODUCT pattern. |
| LibreOffice Calc | =ABS(A2) | Identical. |
How it works
ABS drops the sign: −37.5 becomes 37.5, and positives pass through unchanged. The common follow-on is totaling magnitudes regardless of direction — =SUMPRODUCT(ABS(A2:A10)) does it without a helper column (SUM(ABS(range)) alone won't work in older Excel without Ctrl+Shift+Enter). Also handy in comparisons: ABS(A2-B2)<=0.01 tests whether two numbers are within a tolerance, the robust way to compare floats.
Verified, not just documented
We ran =ABS(A2) in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 (headless, with forced recalculation) and it returned 37.5 — exactly the expected result. Every formula here is confirmed by actually executing it.