To_Percent function in Google Sheets is equivalent to its percent formatting via Format > Number > Percent formatting. That means this function is just for formatting numbers to the percentage (%) equivalent.

In formulas that returning proportionate part of a total, to express the proportionate part, we can use the To_Percent function.

Syntax:

TO_PERCENT(value)

Argument:

value – the number or reference to a cell to format to percent. If the value is not a number (as in the below formula), the To_Percent function will return the value without any formatting.

=to_percent(#N/A)

Result: #N/A

Examples to Google Sheets To_Percent Function:

Real-Life Use of the To_Percent Function in Google Sheets

If you are looking for a real-life example to the To_Percent in Google Sheets, we can consider a sales percentage calculation.

As per this example, there is a 33% increase in sales in Q2 compared to the sales in Q1.

To convert the provided sales percentage number, i.e. 0.33, in cell B4 to a percentage value, you can either use the To_Percent function or the format menu Percent format. Using the To_Percent, the formula will be as follows.

=to_percent(B3/B1)

There is a chance of wrongly using the function Unary_Percent with To_Percent. See how they differ.

Comparison: To_Percent Vs Unary_Percent

I have detailed the To_Percent function above. To understand the difference of this function with Unary_Percent you may please go thru’ the below formulas.

Hope you could understand the difference between the functions To_Percent and Unary_Percent.

The former function converts a provided number to a percentage value whereas the latter function returns a value interpreted as a percentage. Still having any doubt?

For example, To convert 20 to 20% (0.2) use the Unary_Percent function. To convert 0.2 to 20% (just formatting of number) use the To_Percent function.

You can check my function guide for tutorials on more Google Sheets functions.