BASE function: Description, Usage, Syntax, Examples and Explanation

What is BASE function in Excel?

BASE function is one of the Math and Trig functions in Microsoft Excel that r converts a number into a text representation with the given radix (base).

Syntax of BASE function

BASE(Number, Radix [Min_length])

The BASE function syntax has the following arguments.

• Number: The number that you want to convert. Must be an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than 2^53.
• Radix:  The base radix that you want to convert the number into. Must be an integer greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to 36.
• Min_length(Optional):  The minimum length of the returned string. Must be an integer greater than or equal to 0.

BASE formula explanation

• If Number, Radix, or Min_length are outside the minimum or maximum constraints, BASE returns the #NUM! error value.
• If Number is a non-numeric value, BASE returns the #VALUE! error value.
• Any non-integer number entered as an argument is truncated to an integer.
• If the Min_length argument is included, leading zeros are added to the result if the result would otherwise be shorter than the minimum length specified. For example, BASE(16,2) returns 10000, but BASE(16,2,8) returns 00010000.
• The maximum value of the Min_length argument is 255.

Example of BASE function

Steps to follow:

1. Open a new Excel worksheet.

2. Copy data in the following table below and paste it in cell A1

Note: For formulas to show results, select them, press F2 key on your keyboard and then press Enter.

You can adjust the column widths to see all the data, if need be.

Formula	Description	Result
=BASE(7,2)	Converts the decimal number 7 to base 2 (binary). Result is 111.	111
=BASE(100,16)	Converts the decimal number 100 to base 16 (hexadecimal). The result is 64.	64
=BASE(15,2,10)	Converts the decimal number 15 to base 2 (binary), with a minimum length of 10. The result is 0000001111, which is 1111 with 6 leading zeros to make the string 10 characters long.	0000001111