BASE function

The BASE function converts a decimal number into a text representation in another base. For example, base 2 for binary.

Parts of a BASE function

BASE(value, base, [min_length])

Part Description Notes
value The number to convert into base.
  • The value should be an integer greater than or equal to zero.
base The base (or radix) to convert the value number into.
  • The base should be an integer from 2 to 36.
min_length (Optional) The minimum length of the text returned.
  • If the minimum length value is greater than the number of significant digits in the result, the result is left-padded with zeroes until the total number of digits reaches significant_digits.

Sample formulas

BASE(255, 16)

BASE(A2, 2)

BASE(4095, 16, 6)

Notes

  • Non-integer numeric argument values are truncated to an integer.
  • Make sure that any calculations using the result of the BASE function take into account that it may be in a non-decimal base. Results are silently converted by Google Sheets. For example, if cell A2 contains 1111 (the binary equivalent of the decimal value 31), and B2 contains a formula such as "=A2+9," the result will be 11120, which is incorrect in binary calculation.

Examples

This example converts the decimal number 255 to base 16 (hexadecimal):

  A B
1 Formula Result
2 =BASE(255, 16) FF

 

This example converts the number in cell A2 (decimal value 21) to the base given in cell B2 (binary):

  A B C D
1 Number Base Formula Result
2 21 2 =BASE(A2, B2) 10101

 

This example converts the decimal number 4095 to base 16 (hexadecimal) with a minimum length of 6 characters:

  A B
1 Formula Result
2 =BASE(4095, 16, 6) 000FFF

Related functions

  • DECIMAL: The DECIMAL function converts the text representation of a number in another base, to base 10 (decimal).
  • BIN2DEC:  The BIN2DEC function converts a signed binary number to decimal format.
  • BIN2HEX: The BIN2HEX function converts a signed binary number to signed hexadecimal format.
  • BIN2OCT: The BIN2OCT function converts a signed binary number to signed octal format.
  • OCT2BIN: The OCT2BIN function converts a signed octal number to signed binary format.
  • OCT2DEC: The OCT2DEC function converts a signed octal number to decimal format.
  • OCT2HEX: The OCT2HEX function converts a signed octal number to signed hexadecimal format.
  • DEC2BIN: The DEC2BIN function converts a decimal number to signed binary format.
  • DEC2OCT: The DEC2OCT function converts a decimal number to signed octal format.
  • DEC2HEX: The DEC2HEX function converts a decimal number to signed hexadecimal format.
  • HEX2BIN: The HEX2BIN function converts a signed hexadecimal number to signed binary format.
  • HEX2DEC: The HEX2DEC function converts a signed hexadecimal number to decimal format.
  • HEX2OCT: The HEX2OCT function converts a signed hexadecimal number to signed octal format.
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