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BASE

Category: MS Excel compatibility function · Native since: Excel 2013

Converts a number into text in the given radix (base).

Syntax

=BASE(number, radix, [min_length])

Arguments

Argument Required Description
number Required the number to convert (>= 0)
radix Required base, 2 to 36
min_length Optional minimum length of the result (optional)

Returns

Returns the representation in the given radix as text (scalar). A negative or non-numeric number, or a radix outside 2 to 36, returns a #NUM! error.

Examples

Formula Result Description
=BASE(255,16) FF 255 in hexadecimal
=BASE(15,2,8) 00001111 Zero-padded to min_length

Notes

  • The fractional part of number is truncated (floor).
  • Results shorter than min_length are left-padded with zeros.
  • All arguments accept arrays and are computed element-wise, spilling an array of the same shape — scalars are broadcast, a column vector × a row vector expands to their outer product, size-mismatched elements yield #N/A, and an error element returns that error.
  • Related function: DECIMAL
  • Supported: Excel 2010+. Registered as BASE (drop-in) on hosts without the native function, and as EG.BASE on modern Excel that has it.