{"id":852,"date":"2012-10-18T13:46:46","date_gmt":"2012-10-18T13:46:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.microsofttraining.net\/b\/exceltraining\/?p=852"},"modified":"2023-12-30T23:12:48","modified_gmt":"2023-12-30T23:12:48","slug":"convert-function-in-excel-how-to-convert-more-than-just-dates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/convert-function-in-excel-how-to-convert-more-than-just-dates\/","title":{"rendered":"Convert Function in Excel – how to convert more than just dates"},"content":{"rendered":"
The convert function is used to change data from one unit type to another in Excel.<\/div>\n
It’s often used to convert dates, but it can do so much more as there is a \u00a0range of conversion units that you can use to make your life easier.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The convert function is an engineering function. \u00a0<\/strong>In Excel 2010 it is found in the Formulas<\/strong> section of the ribbon as follows; More functions>Engineering>convert.<\/div>\n
\n
\"convert-formulas-excel-course\"<\/a>
The convert icon is located in the Formulas tab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Converting dates and times<\/strong>
\nDates and times often require converting and Excel can do this for you automatically, you just need to set it up, to do so.<\/p>\n

For example, if you add or subtract calculations between two dates, Excel will automatically give the result in days unless you tell it otherwise. \u00a0So you need to perform another calculation to get the result in the format you require (years, months or hours).<\/p>\n

For example, a call centre keeps a worksheet with the start and end times and dates for calls received. \u00a0The manager wants to find out how long each call takes. To show the duration in the most appropriate unit, the answer needs to be presented in minutes rather than hours, however, the format of the data means that the result is shown in days. \u00a0So the manager can use the following convert formula to show the results in minutes instead:<\/p>\n

=CONVERT(G5,”day”,”hr”)<\/p>\n

Converting weights
\n<\/strong>An example would be converting ounces to grams in sales data for a family butcher, and he uses the the following formula:<\/p>\n

=CONVERT(A1,”ozm”,”g”)<\/p>\n

Length conversion
\n<\/strong>An online fabric shop may need imperial and metric measures for selling material. In the UK, many people still ask for a yard of fabric rather than a metre, and data can be stored on a stock spreadsheet easily in both units. This way those people who think in yards can see the yards, those who want metres can see metres. The following formula would achieve this:<\/p>\n

=CONVERT(G5,”m”,”yd”)<\/p>\n

There are more units that you can convert. \u00a0To explore this function and get more out of \u00a0Formulas<\/strong>\u00a0consider attending one of our Excel courses<\/strong>. Find out more on\u00a0https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/excel-2010-intermediate.php<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The convert function is used to change data from one unit type to another in Excel. It’s often used to convert dates, but it can do so much more as there is a \u00a0range of conversion units that you can use to make your life easier. The convert function is an engineering function. \u00a0In Excel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[192,200],"class_list":["post-852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-excel-training","tag-excel-courses","tag-excel-formulas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=852"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6750,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852\/revisions\/6750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}