You have recently learned to use Excel and you are slowly becoming familiar with all of its basic functions. Not infrequently, however, you’re faced with small obstacles that don’t allow you to take full advantage of the potential of this very popular Microsoft software.
The other day, for example, you happened to have to enter powers into a spreadsheet and had to calculate them separately with a calculator because you didn’t know how to raise to powers in Excel. Well… how about we fill this gap right now and see together how to instruct Excel so that it automatically processes powers? Believe it or not, all you have to do is type a short formula inside the cell where you want the power to appear and that’s it. Give it a try come on, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is!
Just a small clarification before we start: for the tutorial I’ll use Office 2016 which, at the time of writing, is the latest version of the suite available for Windows and macOS. In any case, the indications contained in the article should also be valid for older versions of the program, from 2007 onwards. That said, all that remains for me to do is wish you a good read and good work!
Elevate to power in Excel on PC
The process of raising to power in Excel is very easy and works with all versions of the program: 2003, 2007, 2010, etc… All you have to do is open the spreadsheet you are working on and click on the cell where you want to enter the power.
Now, type the formula =POWER(x;y) where x is the base of the power (i.e., the number to be multiplied) and y is the exponent number (i.e., the number of times the base must be multiplied by itself) and press the Enter key on your PC keyboard to display the result of the power in the selected cell. For example, if you type =POWER(5;2) in a cell and press Enter , the number 25 will appear in the cell.
Instead of the formula =POWER(x;y), if you find it more convenient, you can also use the formula =x^y, where instead of x is the base number of the power and instead of y is the number to be used as an exponent to which to raise the number of the base.
For example, if you want to know how much is 203, you have to select the cell where you want the result to appear, type the formula =20^3 and give Enter.
In Excel sheets it is also possible to insert powers with base and exponent composed of decimal numbers (with commas), using the same formula just seen for integers, and with fractions. For powers with fractional exponents, use the formula =POWER(x;y/y) where the letter x is the base of the power and y/y is the number of the exponent.
For example, if you want to know how much is 3 raised to the power of 5/4, you would select the cell in which to display the result of the operation, type the formula =POWER(3;5/4) and give Enter. Easy, right?
Do you have a spreadsheet full of numbers and want to know how to raise to power in Excel using as a base one of the numbers already present in the cells of the document? Nothing simpler: use the formula we saw earlier (=POWER(x;y)) but instead of a number at the letter x substitute the coordinates of the cell containing the number to be used as the power base.
For example, if cell A1 contains the number 20 and you want to use that number as the basis of a power raised to the third power, click on the cell where the power is to be entered (e.g. B1), enter the formula =POWER(A1;3) and press the Enter key on your PC keyboard. In this way, the result of power 203 will automatically appear in the cell. Quick and easy.
If some steps are not clear to you and/or you want more information about the procedure to raise to power in Excel using the “classic” version of the program for Windows and macOS, consult the Microsoft website.
Elevate to power in Excel online
Are you forced to work temporarily on a PC where Excel is not present and you have no way to install it? Don’t despair: maybe you don’t know it, but there is a Web version of the program, called Excel Online, which can be used at no cost from all major Internet browsers (e.g. Chrome, Firefox or Safari) and allows, among other things, to calculate powers. As you can easily guess, it doesn’t include all the advanced features of Excel for Windows or macOS, but for calculating powers it is more than sufficient.
To use Excel Online, connect to the main page of the service and, if required, log in to your Microsoft account. If you don’t have a Microsoft account yet, find out how to create one in my tutorial on the subject. At this point, start creating an empty workbook or, alternatively, upload an existing file to work on.
If you want to upload an existing file to Excel Online, you have to go through OneDrive, Microsoft’s cloud storage service (which I told you about in more detail in my dedicated tutorial). So, connect to your OneDrive, click on the Go to my OneDrive button and log in to your Microsoft account. Next, drag the Excel document you want to edit into the browser window, wait for the upload to finish and open your workbook in Excel Online by clicking on the icon of the latter.
Now all you have to do is elevate to power in Excel Online using the same formulas I showed you earlier in the chapter of the tutorial dedicated to Excel for Windows and macOS.
=POWER(x;y), where x is the base of the power and y is the number of the exponent.
=x^y, where x is the base of the power and y is the number of the exponent.
=POTENCY(A1;y), where the coordinates of a cell to be raised to power should be put in the place of A1 and the exponent number in the place of y.
=POWER(x;y/y), where the letter x should be substituted for the base of the power and y/y for the number of the exponent with fraction.
Once you finish working on the document, it is automatically saved to OneDrive. To download it to your PC, click on the File button located at the top left, select Save As from the menu that appears on the side and click Download a copy.
Elevate to power in Excel on smartphones and tablets
Are you often out of the office and need to work with Excel on the go? I don’t see where the problem is: the famous software from the house of Microsoft is also available in the form of an application for Android devices, iPhone and iPad and Windows 10 Mobile terminals. The most interesting thing of all? Is that you can use it for free on all devices equipped with a screen size of 10.1 or less? If you have a tablet or convertible device that exceeds this size, you’ll have to subscribe to Office 365 with prices starting at 7 euros/month.
That said, to work on the go with Excel and calculate powers directly from your smartphone or tablet, open your device’s store (e.g. Play Store on Android or App Store on iOS), search for Excel in the latter and proceed to download and install the app by first clicking on the app icon and then on the Install/Find button. If you are using an iPhone or iPad, you may need to identify yourself via Face ID, Touch ID or Apple ID password to confirm the download of the app.
Once the installation is complete, launch the Excel application via its icon that appears on the home screen, log in to your Microsoft account (if you don’t have one yet, find out how to fix it by reading my tutorial dedicated to the topic) and choose whether to create an empty workbook or open an existing file. To work on an existing file, select the Open Excel tab and choose whether to take a document from the memory of the device in use or from one of the many supported cloud storage services, such as Dropbox, OneDriveor Google Drive.
Once you’ve opened the workbook on which to work, all you have to do is use the formulas I showed you in the chapter of the tutorial dedicated to Excel for Windows and macOS.
=POWER(x;y), where instead of x you must enter the base of the power and instead of y the number of the exponent.
=x^y, where instead of x you must enter the base of the power and instead of y the number of the exponent.
=POTENCY(A1;y), where instead of A1 you must enter the coordinates of the cell to be raised to power and instead of y the number of the exponent.
=POWER(x;y/y), where in place of the letter x you must enter the base of the power and a in place of y/y the number of the exponent with fraction.
Changes made to an existing document are automatically saved (on the device memory or on the cloud storage service from which the document originates). If, on the other hand, you’ve created a new file, you have to click on the back arrow icon and choose the name to give the document, on the screen that opens. See how it wasn’t difficult at all to power up in Excel, regardless of the device and software platform used?