How to Add a Plus Sign for Positive in Excel & Google Sheets

This tutorial demonstrates how to add a plus sign for positive numbers in Excel and Google Sheets.

 

 

Plus Sign for Positive Numbers

By default, Excel displays negative numbers with the minus sign and positive numbers without a sign. However, sometimes it is useful to format numbers to add a plus sign in front of positive numbers (for example to highlight positive or negative changes in numbers). Say you have the following data set with Month in Column B and Sales in Column C. In Column D, a monthly Change is displayed, as a difference compared to the previous month.

 

 

To add a plus sign for positive numbers in Column D, follow these steps:

1. Select the range where you want to add a plus sign (here, D2:D13), right-click the selected area, and choose Format Cells.

 

 

2. In the Format Cells window, (1) go to the Number tab and (2) choose the Custom category. In the Type box, (3) enter +0;-0;0. (4) Click OK.

 

 

All positive numbers now have a plus sign in front of them.

 

 

Add a Plus Sign in Google Sheets

You can do the same thing in Google Sheets.

1. Select the range where you want to add a plus sign (D2:D13), and in the Menu, go to Format > Number > More Formats > Custom number format.

 

 

2. In the Custom number formats window, type +0;-0;0, and click Apply. Under the box, you can see a preview of positive and negative numbers.

 

 

Now all positive numbers have a plus sign to the left of the value.