It's easy to format a character as superscript (slightly above the baseline) or subscript (slightly below the baseline) in Excel.
1. For example, double click cell A1.
2. Select the value 2.
3. Right click, and then click Format Cells (or press Ctrl + 1).
The 'Format Cells' dialog box appears.
4. On the Font tab, under Effects, click Superscript.
5. Click OK.
Jump to Subscript shortcut - The Subscript shortcut is Ctrl + = on a PC and Ctrl + Cmd + + on a Mac. This shortcut works in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.
Result:
6. Needless to say, a superscript effect cannot return a result. To square a number, use a formula like this:
Note: to insert a caret ^ symbol, press SHIFT + 6.
7. To format a character as subscript (slightly below the baseline), repeat steps 1-5 but at step 4 click Subscript.
Result:
8. Did you know that you can also insert equations in Excel? On the Insert tab, in the Symbols group, click Equation.
Note: equations in Excel are floating objects and do not return results.
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Properly formatting expressions such as 'H2O' in your Excel spreadsheet requires the use of subscripts. Subscript formatting makes a letter or number appear smaller and slightly below the rest of the text. Adding subscripts to Excel is usually a simple matter of a font setting, but you may run into limitations when adding subscripts to cells containing numbers or formulas. You can work around this limitation by converting your data to text before adding the subscripts.
1.Convert the cell to text values if it contains a number or formula and you want to make only part of the cell subscript. If you want the entire cell to be subscript, leave it as is. To convert a cell to text, right-click the cell, choose 'Format Cells,' select the 'Number' tab, select 'Text,' and then click 'OK.'
2.Enter the characters you want to display in subscript using the default font size, if they are not already in the cell.
3.Select the cell or the text you want to convert.
4.Right-click the selection and choose 'Format Cells' to open the Cell Formatting dialog box.
5.Click the box next to 'Subscript' under the Font tab, and then click 'OK.' The selected cells or text displays as subscript characters.
Warning
- Information in this article applies to Excel 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2013. It may vary slightly or significantly with other versions or products.
References (2)
About the Author
Alan Sembera began writing for local newspapers in Texas and Louisiana. His professional career includes stints as a computer tech, information editor and income tax preparer. Sembera now writes full time about business and technology. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Texas A&M University.
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Sembera, Alan. 'How to Enter a Subscript in Excel.' Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/enter-subscript-excel-72003.html. Accessed 10 November 2019.
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