INT and TRUNC functions in Excel

INT rounds a number down to the whole number below it; TRUNC simply cuts off the decimals.

INT and TRUNC both turn a number with decimals into a whole number without rounding to the nearest. Nothing is rounded up. For positive numbers they give the same answer. For negative numbers they differ, and that difference matters as soon as a sheet contains losses, refunds or temperatures below zero.

Syntax

=INT(number)

=TRUNC(number, [num_digits])

Argument	What it is
`number`	The number to cut down.
`num_digits`	For TRUNC: how many decimal places to keep. 0 if left out.

Examples

Each result below is what Excel itself showed for the formula on the sample sheet.

Sample sheet: Twelve sales made by four salespeople in three regions.

	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	Date	Salesperson	Region	Product	Units	Amount
2	05-Jan-2026	Asha	North	Notebook	20	1200
3	12-Jan-2026	Ravi	South	Pen	50	500
4	20-Jan-2026	Meena	North	Bag	4	3000
5	02-Feb-2026	Asha	East	Pen	30	300
6	14-Feb-2026	Kabir	South	Notebook	15	900
7	28-Feb-2026	Ravi	North	Bag	2	1500
8	03-Mar-2026	Meena	East	Notebook	40	2400
9	15-Mar-2026	Asha	North	Bag	3	2250
10	22-Mar-2026	Kabir	South	Pen	60	600
11	01-Apr-2026	Ravi	East	Notebook	25	1500
12	18-Apr-2026	Meena	North	Pen	80	800
13	06-May-2026	Asha	South	Bag	5	3750

=INT(F2/7)
Result: 171
1200 rupees shared among 7 people: each gets 171 whole rupees, and the fraction is dropped.
=INT(7.9)
Result: 7
The whole number below 7.9.
=INT(-7.9)
Result: -8
For negative numbers "down" means further from zero: -8, not -7.
=TRUNC(-7.9)
Result: -7
TRUNC just drops the decimals, so the answer is -7.
=TRUNC(1234.5678,2)
Result: 1234.56
TRUNC can keep some decimal places. Nothing is rounded.
=INT(E2/12)
Result: 1
20 units make one full dozen.
=E2-INT(E2/12)*12
Result: 8
And 8 units are left over. MOD does this in one step.
=A2+0.75-INT(A2+0.75)
Result: 0.75
INT removes the date from a date-and-time value, leaving the time as a fraction of a day: 0.75 is 6 in the evening.

The difference

INT goes down to the next whole number. On a number line, it always moves left. 7.9 becomes 7, and -7.9 becomes -8.
TRUNC chops off the decimal part. It always moves towards zero. 7.9 becomes 7, and -7.9 becomes -7.

If negative values are possible and you want "the whole-number part", TRUNC is usually what you mean.

TRUNC has a second argument for the number of decimal places to keep, so =TRUNC(3.14159,2) is 3.14. INT has no such option.

What INT is used for

Whole units and what is left over. How many full dozens, full boxes or full weeks? =INT(total/size) gives the complete units. The remainder is total - INT(total/size)*size, or more simply MOD.

Splitting hours and minutes. With 135 minutes in A1, =INT(A1/60) is 2 hours and =MOD(A1,60) is 15 minutes.

Separating a date from a time. Excel stores a date as a whole number of days and a time as a fraction of a day. A cell with both, such as 5 January at 6 pm, holds a number with a decimal part. =INT(A1) is the date alone, and =A1-INT(A1) is the time alone. This is the standard way to group time-stamped records by day.

Age in completed years from a number of days: =INT((today-birth)/365.25) is a rough method. DATEDIF is exact.

INT, ROUND or ROUNDDOWN?

Function	7.9	7.2	-7.9
`INT(x)`	7	7	-8
`TRUNC(x)`	7	7	-7
`ROUNDDOWN(x,0)`	7	7	-7
`ROUND(x,0)`	8	7	-8

ROUNDDOWN with 0 places and TRUNC behave alike. ROUND goes to the nearest. See ROUND.

A warning about tiny errors

Because of the way computers store decimals, a calculation that should give exactly 3 can come out as 2.9999999999. INT then returns 2. If a result that ought to be a whole number is going into INT, round it first: =INT(ROUND(A1/B1,6)).

Common mistakes

Using INT on negative numbers and being surprised by -8.
Using INT where rounding to the nearest was intended.
Expecting INT to change text. =INT("12 kg") gives #VALUE!.

In Google Sheets

INT and TRUNC are the same in Google Sheets.

Related functions

Every result on this page was calculated in Microsoft Excel (version 16.0, build 20326) on 12 November 2026, not typed by hand.

This is an independent help site. It is not connected with or approved by Microsoft. Excel and Microsoft 365 are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation, named here only to say which program a formula is for. The people and figures in the sample sheets are made up.