BASE function

The BASE function converts a decimal number into a text representation in another base. For example, base 2 for binary.

Parts of a BASE function

BASE(value, base, [min_length])

Part	Description	Notes
value	The number to convert into base.	The value should be an integer greater than or equal to zero.
base	The base (or radix) to convert the value number into.	The base should be an integer from 2 to 36.
min_length	(Optional) The minimum length of the text returned.	If the minimum length value is greater than the number of significant digits in the result, the result is left-padded with zeros until the total number of digits reaches significant_digits.

Sample formulas

BASE(255, 16)

BASE(A2, 2)

BASE(4095, 16, 6)

Notes

• Non-integer numerical argument values are truncated to an integer.
• Make sure that any calculations using the result of the BASE function take into account that it may be in a non-decimal base. Results are silently converted by Google Sheets. For example, if cell A2 contains 1111 (the binary equivalent of the decimal value 31), and B2 contains a formula, such as "=A2+9", the result will be 11120, which is incorrect in a binary calculation.

Examples

This example converts the decimal number 255 to base 16 (hexadecimal):

	A	B
1	Formula	Result
2	=BASE(255, 16)	FF

 

This example converts the number in cell A2 (decimal value 21) to the base given in cell B2 (binary):

	A	B	C	D
1	Number	Base	Formula	Result
2	21	2	=BASE(A2, B2)	10101

 

This example converts the decimal number 4095 to base 16 (hexadecimal) with a minimum length of 6 characters:

	A	B
1	Formula	Result
2	=BASE(4095, 16, 6)	000FFF

Related functions

• DECIMAL: The DECIMAL function converts the text representation of a number in another base, to base 10 (decimal).
• BIN2DEC:  The BIN2DEC function converts a signed binary number to decimal format.
• BIN2HEX: The BIN2HEX function converts a signed binary number to signed hexadecimal format.
• BIN2OCT: The BIN2OCT function converts a signed binary number to signed octal format.
• OCT2BIN: The OCT2BIN function converts a signed octal number to signed binary format.
• OCT2DEC: The OCT2DEC function converts a signed octal number to decimal format.
• OCT2HEX: The OCT2HEX function converts a signed octal number to signed hexadecimal format.
• DEC2BIN: The DEC2BIN function converts a decimal number to signed binary format.
• DEC2OCT: The DEC2OCT function converts a decimal number to signed octal format.
• DEC2HEX: The DEC2HEX function converts a decimal number to signed hexadecimal format.
• HEX2BIN: The HEX2BIN function converts a signed hexadecimal number to signed binary format.
• HEX2DEC: The HEX2DEC function converts a signed hexadecimal number to decimal format.
• HEX2OCT: The HEX2OCT function converts a signed hexadecimal number to signed octal format.