How To Square In Google Sheets

In this tutorial, you will learn how to square in Google Sheets.

While mathematical operations like adding and subtracting are fairly straightforward in Google Sheets by typing plus and minus signs on the keyboard, other operations like squaring numbers are not so easy to figure out. Fortunately, there’s a simple formula to calculate squares in Google Sheets. It looks a little different from the superscript 2 you’ve likely seen in math textbooks, but the result is the same

Caret Method

The simplest way to square in Google Sheets is to use the caret character.

Here’s how:

Step 1

Select the cell you want to calculate the square into and begin typing your formula with an equals sign followed by the number you want to square. You can type a number such (eg. 7), or a reference to a cell containing the number (eg. B1)

Step 2

Type the caret character by holding down Shift and pressing the 6 key on a standard keyboard

Step 3

Type a 2 and hit enter to finish the formula. The squared number will appear in the cell

POWER() Function Method

While the above method is a convenient shorthand, sometimes with more complex formulas it can be unclear and make formulas harder to read. This is where the POWER() function comes in.

Here’s how to use it:

Step 1

Select a cell and type the following to begin your formula “=POWER(”

Step 2

Type the number you want to square or a reference to it. You can type square a single number or a long, complex formula using the POWER function, but we’ll keep it simple for this example

Step 3

Finish the formula by typing a comma, followed by a 2 to specify what power to raise the base to, and closing parentheses to finish the formula

Step 4

The squared number will appear in the cell

Summary

Example Spreadsheet: Make a copy of the example spreadsheet

In this tutorial, I covered how to square in Google Sheets. Want more? Check out all the Google Sheets Tutorials.