How do I calculate differences in Google spreadsheets?
Calculating a difference between two cells in Google Sheets works the same way as in Excel. Especially with larger tables, it is not worthwhile to calculate every difference individually. A simple formula suffices and the cells are filled in automatically.
Calculate difference between two cells - how it works with Google spreadsheets
There are numerous use cases where it is helpful to have differences between two cells in Google Sheets calculated automatically. All you need is a short and easy to remember formula:
- Write the two values that you want to offset against each other in two individual cells of the table (see picture).
- Find a third field in which the difference should appear.
- Type in the forms "= B3-C3" (without quotation marks). Replace the values B3 and C3 with the names of the cells in which the two values are located.
- Press the [Enter] key. The Google spreadsheet now shows the difference between the two values.
If you don't want to search for the coordinates of the cells each time, you can simply click on the corresponding cells when entering the formula. If you have to calculate several differences, as in the example picture, you should pull down the small square in the lower right corner of the cell after entering. This automatically calculates the differences in the other fields.