Calculate Percentage in Excel: Formulas With Examples

Introduction

Percentages are an integral part of Excel, but the good news is that you don’t need anything fancy to calculate percentage in Excel. If you can divide a part by a total and format the result as a percent, you are already 80% there.

In this guide, you will learn how to calculate a percentage in Excel, then level up to real scenarios: 

• calculating percentages across multiple rows
• finding the percentage of the total
• tracking percentage change
• percentage difference
• percentage increase or decrease.

We will also call out the most common mistakes (such as totals shifting when you copy formulas or numbers appearing 100x larger) and explain how to fix them.

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How to Calculate Percentage in Excel

Quick Answer with Step-by-Step breakdown

This is the fastest way to calculate percentage in Excel for most everyday cases. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Use this formula in the result cell: =Part/Total. 

Example: if C2 is the part and B2 is the total: =C2/B2

Step 2: Go to the Home tab and click on Percent Style (%) in the Number Tab. (When you apply the Percent Style, Excel will take care of converting decimals to percentage format.)

You can choose upto what decimal place you want the percentage to be by selecting the Increase Decimal option.

Quick Shortcut: Alternatively, press Ctrl + Shift + % to format the result instantly.

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How to Calculate Percentages for Multiple Rows

Now, let us consider a scenario where you need to calculate each student's total class scores and the overall percentage. For better clarity, view the following image.

Step 1: Calculate the total number of marks of “Joe”, apply the following formula.

=(F3+G3+H3+I3+J3+K3)

Step 2: To implement the same formula for all the rows, you can drag the cell as shown below.

Step 3: In the next stage, calculate the Percentage. The formula for calculating the Percentage is as follows.

Percentage = Marks Obtained / Total Marks

=(L3/M3)

Step 4: Now apply the Percent Style to the result cell (N3)

Step 5: To apply the same formula to all cells, drag the cell down to all rows, as shown below.

The Final Table looks like this:

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How to Calculate the Percentage of Total in Excel

For this, let’s consider the scenario where you have the cost prices of multiple products and want to find the percentage contribution of each product to the total cost.

Step 1: Add the total. 

In B7, calculate the total sales: =SUM(B4:B6)

Step 2: Calculate the percentage of the total for Product A.

 In C4, enter: =B4/$B$7

Step 3: Apply Percent Style. 

Select C2 → Home tab → Percent Style (%)

Step 4: Copy the formula down. 

Drag C4 down to C6.

Why does ‘$’ matter? $B$7 will stay fixed as the total when you copy the formula down to each row, so every product’s cost price will be divided by the same value (in this case, the total).

How to Calculate Percentage Change in Excel

Imagine you are tracking monthly website traffic and want to measure month-on-month changes for two months. In this scenario, you’d want to employ the percentage change calculation. 

Step 1: Add your old and new values.

Let’s say:

• Last month’s visits (Old) are in B4: 48,000
• This month’s visits (New) are in C4: 60,000

Step 2: Enter the percentage change formula.

 In D2, enter: =(C4-B4)/B4

Step 3: Apply Percent Style.

Select D4 → Home tab → Percent Style (%)

Step 4: Copy the formula down (if you have multiple months).

Drag D4 down to apply the same formula to other rows.

How to Calculate Percentage Difference in Excel

Percentage difference is useful when you are comparing two numbers, and you do not want to treat either one as the “starting point.” It gives you a neutral comparison.

For Example, you received two quotes for the same software license:

• Vendor 1: 18,500
• Vendor 2: 20,000

Put your two values in B5 and B6. 

And, in C5, enter: =ABS(B5-B6)/AVERAGE(B5,B6)

After formatting as Percentage, you will get the percentage difference between the two quotes.

When to Use Percentage Difference vs Percentage Change

How to Increase or Decrease a Number by a Percentage

Let’s say you are updating a salary sheet and need Excel to apply a hike or a cut for each employee.

You have:

• Column E: Current Salaries
• Column F: Hike or Cut %
• Column G: Updated Salaries

Formula for Increase: =Value*(1+Percent)

Now you want to raise the salary of 50,000 (Cell B6) by 15% (Cell C6). For this, you will:

In D6, enter:

=B^*(1+C6)

What this does

• 1+C6 becomes 1+15% which is 1.15
• Excel multiplies the salary by 1.15

The resulting salary after the increase: 57,500

Formula for Decrease: =Value*(1-Percent)

On the other hand, you want to apply a 10% (Cell B12) cut to the same 70,000 (Cell C12).

In D12, enter:

=B12*(1-C12)

What this does

• 1-C12 becomes 1-10%, which is 0.90
• Excel multiplies the salary by 0.90

The resulting salary after the decrease: 63,000

How to Apply to the Full List

1. Make sure column F is formatted as Percentage (15%, 10%)
2. Copy the formula down from G2 to the rest of the rows using the fill handle

Quick check: If your “percentage” column has values like 15 and 10, Excel may treat them as 1500% and 1000% after formatting. Enter 15% and 10% directly, or enter 0.15 and 0.10 and format as Percentage.

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Common Mistakes When Calculating Percentage in Excel and How to Fix Them

If you calculate a percentage in Excel and the output looks wrong, it is usually one of these issues.

You can also learn how to calculate percentage in excel with this insightful video. Watch now:

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Key Takeaways

• Calculate percentage in Excel with Part/Total, then format the result as Percent (%)
• Use Ctrl + Shift + % to apply the percent format instantly
• For many rows, write the formula once, then drag the fill handle to copy it down
• For the percent of total, lock the total cell with $ (example: =B2/$B$5) so it does not move when copied
• Percentage change is for before vs after: (New-Old)/Old
• Percentage difference is for side-by-side comparison with no baseline: ABS(A-B)/AVERAGE(A,B)
• To increase or decrease a value by a percentage: Value(1+Percent)* or Value(1-Percent)*
• If results look wrong, check for: missing percent formatting, using *100 plus % formatting, totals not locked with $, or division by zero (#DIV/0!)

Additional Resources

• Must Know Excel Shortcuts
• MS Excel Interview Questions
• Excel Tutorial for Beginners
• How to Compare Two Columns in Excel

FAQs

1) How do I calculate percentage of a number in Excel?

If you want to find X percent of a value in a cell, multiply the value by the percent.

Quick formula: Value in Cell × Percent

If the percent is in a cell (say B2 has 20%), and the number is in A2 (5,000), use
=A2*B2

2) How do I calculate percentage contribution by category (PivotTable context)?

If your data is already in a PivotTable and you want each category’s share of the total, use “Show Values As”.

Example goal: Show each category’s contribution as a percent of the grand total.

Steps

• Step 1: Create a PivotTable (Category in Rows, Sales in Values)
• Step 2: Click any number in the Values area
• Step 3: Right-click → Show Values As → % of Grand Total
• Step 4: (Optional) For percent within each month or region, use % of Column Total or % of Row Total

Tip: You can keep both views by adding the Sales field twice in Values. Keep one as Sum, set the second to % of Grand Total.

3) What’s the Google Sheets percentage formula equivalent?

Google Sheets uses the same formulas as Excel for percentages.

Common equivalents

• Basic percent: =Part/Total
• Percentage change: =(New-Old)/Old
• Percentage difference: =ABS(A-B)/AVERAGE(A,B)
• Percent of a number: =Number*Percent

Formatting in Google Sheets: Select the cell → Format → Number → Percent