Excel SQRT Function

The Excel SQRT function returns the square root of a positive number. SQRT returns an error if number is negative.

The SQRT function takes one argument, number, which must be a numeric value. If number is not numeric, SQRT returns a #VALUE! error. If number is negative, SQRT returns a #NUM! error.

Examples

=SQRT(9) // returns 3
=SQRT(81) // returns 9
=SQRT(144) // returns 12
=SQRT(0.25) // returns 0.5
=SQRT(0) // returns 0

Negative numbers

The SQRT function will return a #NUM! error when number is negative:

=SQRT(-9) // returns #NUM!

To get the square root of a negative number (as if the number was positive), wrap the number in the ABS function like this:

=SQRT(ABS(-9)) // returns 3

Notes

• If number is not numeric, SQRT returns a #VALUE! error.
• If number is negative, SQRT returns a #NUM! error.