How to Convert Currency in Excel

Excel does not have a Convert Currency button. What it has is a multiplication, a place to keep the rate, and, if you are on Microsoft 365, a built-in data type that fetches the rate for you. Here is how to do all three, and how to get the direction right, which is where most people trip up.

Last updated: August 24, 2026

What this guide covers

• Which way to multiply, and the mistake everyone makes
• The currency conversion formula in Excel
• Currency pair cheat table
• Live rates: the Excel Currencies data type
• Importing an exchange rate feed with Power Query
• Building a currency converter across two sheets
• Converting a column with several different currencies
• Changing the currency symbol (formatting)
• Troubleshooting
• Frequently asked questions

Excel is estimated to be used by more than 1.2 billion people worldwide in over 140 countries, so the need to move numbers between currencies comes up constantly. USD is the default currency in our templates, and people write in from everywhere wanting to switch a finance template to Australian dollars, Egyptian pounds, euros and the rest. You can also follow us on YouTube for more tips, tricks, and template tutorials.

Which way do you multiply?

This is the part that goes wrong, and it goes wrong because exchange rates get quoted in both directions. Someone converting rupees to dollars looks up the rate, sees a number in the eighties, multiplies by it, and ends up with an answer that is thousands of times too big.

The rule: write the rate down as "one unit of what you have, in what you want". Do that and you always multiply. If your rate is quoted the other way round, divide instead.

So for converting INR to USD in Excel, you want the rate expressed as "1 INR in USD", which is a small decimal. If the only rate you have is the rupees-per-dollar figure, then use =B2/$C$2 instead of =B2*$C$2. Same information, opposite operation.

The most-searched version of this is how to convert euro to dollar in Excel, and if you convert euro to USD in Excel you are doing exactly the same sum, because dollar and USD are the same thing. There is no separate method per currency pair.

A ten-second sanity check catches every one of these mistakes: converting into a stronger currency should make the number smaller, and converting into a weaker one should make it bigger. If 8,300 rupees turns into anything other than roughly a hundred dollars, you have the rate upside down.

What is the currency conversion formula in Excel?

There is no dedicated Excel exchange rate formula and no CONVERTCURRENCY function. The Excel formula to convert one currency into another is plain multiplication, with the rate parked in a cell of its own so you can update it in one place. Excel currency conversion really is that simple once the rate is somewhere sensible.

1. Find the current exchange rate between the two currencies and put it in an empty cell. For a dollars-to-euros example, if one US dollar buys 0.88462 euros, enter 0.88462 in cell C2. That figure is an illustration only, so look up today's number rather than copying it.
2. In cell D2, enter =B2*$C$2 and drag the fill handle down the column. Every row in D2:D10 now holds the converted euro amount.

The rule: the dollar signs in $C$2 are not decoration. Without them, filling the formula down moves the rate reference to C3, C4, C5, which are empty, and every row after the first returns zero.

Currency pair cheat table

Every one of these is the same formula. The only thing that changes is which way you wrote the rate. Amount in B2, rate in C2, formula in D2.

That last row is the whole trick. There is one formula, and the only decision is multiply or divide.

How do you get a live exchange rate in Excel?

If you are on Microsoft 365, you do not need an external feed at all. Excel has a Currencies data type that pulls exchange rates in for you, and it is the closest thing to a built-in Excel exchange rate feed.

1. In a cell, type the currency pair using ISO codes in the form From/To. For example, type USD/EUR to get the rate from one US dollar into euros.
2. Select the cells and choose Insert > Table. A table is not required, but it makes the next step much easier.
3. With the cells still selected, go to the Data tab and pick the Currencies data type. If Excel matches the pair, the text turns into a linked data type and a small currency icon appears in the cell.
4. Select the converted cells and click the Insert Data button, or press Ctrl+Shift+F5 (Cmd+Shift+F5 on Mac). Choose Price, which is the exchange rate for that pair.
5. Use that Price cell as the rate in your =B2*$C$2 formula. To pull a fresh quote later, go to Data > Refresh All.

Two caveats straight from Microsoft's own Get a currency exchange rate documentation: currency pairs are only available to Microsoft 365 accounts, and the data is provided as-is and may be delayed, so it is not suitable for trading decisions.

If a question mark appears instead of the currency icon, Excel could not match your text. Check the ISO codes and the slash, or click the icon to open the Data Selector and search for the pair.

How to import an exchange rate feed with Power Query

If you are not on Microsoft 365, or you want a specific provider's rates, you can import an XML feed instead. This is the same approach as converting currencies in Google Sheets, minus the GOOGLEFINANCE shortcut.

First, find an online rate source that publishes XML. Then, in Excel 2019 or Microsoft 365, click Data > Get Data > From File > From XML. In older versions of Excel, use Data > Get External Data > From Other Sources > From XML Data Import.

In the Import Data window, paste the XML feed URL into the File Name box, then click Import.

On Office 2019 or Microsoft 365 you get a preview of the incoming data. Click Transform Data.

The Power Query Editor opens. Scroll to the Item column and double-click Table to load the current rates.

Click Close & Load in the upper-left corner to drop the data into your workbook.

The imported data lands on a new worksheet, and you can point your conversion formulas at it. To pull fresh rates, use Data > Refresh All.

Building a currency converter in Excel across two sheets

A currency converter Excel sheet is really just this one formula pointed at a rate cell. Once the rates live on their own sheet, the converter is a one-cell formula. Find the cell holding the rate you want. In this example the British pound rate sits in cell I3 of Sheet2.

Go back to your working sheet, put the dollar amounts in column A, and in B2 enter:

=A2*Sheet2!$I$3

Note that there is no space between Sheet2! and $I$3. A space in an Excel formula is the intersection operator, so a stray space there will break the formula rather than being ignored.

Column A holds the dollar amounts and column B holds the converted pounds. Change the absolute reference to a different rate cell and the same sheet converts any pair you have imported.

You can also skip the data feed entirely and type the rate by hand. Put the amount in one cell and the rate in another, then multiply the two.

The formula is identical either way. The only difference is that a hand-typed rate goes stale the moment the market moves, so you have to remember to update it.

How to convert a column with several different currencies

A single rate cell only works when everything in the column is in the same currency. For a mixed list, build a small rate table and look the rate up per row. This is the Excel multiple currency conversion formula people are usually after.

Set up a two-column rate table somewhere on the sheet, say currency codes in F2:F10 and the value of one unit of each in USD in G2:G10. With the amount in B2 and its currency code in C2:

=B2*XLOOKUP(C2,$F$2:$F$10,$G$2:$G$10)

On an older version of Excel without XLOOKUP, the equivalent is:

=B2*VLOOKUP(C2,$F$2:$G$10,2,FALSE)

The rule: keep the rate table in one place and every conversion on the sheet updates when you update the table. Never hard-code a rate inside a formula.

How to change the currency symbol in Excel

Converting changes the number. Formatting changes the label. You will usually want both, so here is the formatting half in short. For the full treatment, including how to change the default currency for every new file, see How to Change the Default Currency in Excel.

Start by selecting the cells you want to format.

Choose Currency from the Number Format dropdown in the Number section of the Home tab.

Every selected cell is now formatted as Currency using the Windows default symbol. To switch some of them to another currency, such as the euro, select just those cells.

In the Number section of the Home tab, click the small dialog launcher in the lower right corner, or just press Ctrl+1.

On the Number tab, with Currency selected in the Category list, open the Symbol dropdown, scroll to the Euro entries, and pick the one that puts the symbol where you want it. Click OK.

The selected numbers now carry the new symbol. Because currency formatting is per cell, you can keep several currencies side by side in one workbook.

One thing worth knowing: the currency-symbol button in the Number group looks like the quick way to do this, but it applies the accounting number format, not the standard currency format.

Pick Euro from that button and you do get euro symbols.

They just display in accounting style, with the symbol pinned to the left edge of the cell and the decimal points aligned down the column rather than the symbol sitting next to the number.

Decimal places and the treatment of negative numbers are on the same Number tab of the Format Cells dialog. For more Excel fundamentals, our guide to changing currency symbols for certain cells covers the same ground from another angle.

Troubleshooting currency conversion in Excel

Final thoughts on converting currency in Excel

All of currency conversion in Excel comes down to three decisions: where the rate lives, whether you multiply or divide, and whether the rate updates itself. Put the rate in its own cell, write it as "one of what you have, in what you want", and let the Currencies data type or a refreshable query keep it current. Everything else is formatting.

Want more? Read How to Unprotect a Protected Sheet in Excel, or browse our easy-to-follow Excel guides.

Frequently asked questions about converting currency in Excel

Is there a currency conversion function in Excel?

No. Excel has no built-in convert-currency function. Conversion is a multiplication by an exchange rate you supply, as in =B2*$C$2. What Excel does provide, on Microsoft 365, is a Currencies data type that fetches the rate for you so you do not have to type it in.

How do I convert INR to USD in Excel?

Put the value of one rupee in dollars into a cell, say C2, then use =B2*$C$2 with the rupee amount in B2. If the rate you have is the rupees-per-dollar figure instead, use =B2/$C$2. A quick check: 8,300 rupees should come out at roughly a hundred dollars, not thousands.

How do I automatically convert currency in Excel?

Use the Currencies data type on Microsoft 365. Type the pair as USD/EUR, convert it with Data > Currencies, insert the Price field, and point your formula at that cell. Data > Refresh All pulls a fresh quote. Without Microsoft 365, import an XML rate feed with Power Query and refresh that instead.

Why does my conversion formula return zero on every row but the first?

Because the rate reference was not locked. When you fill =B2*C2 down the column it becomes =B3*C3, =B4*C4 and so on, and those rate cells are empty. Write it as =B2*$C$2 so the rate stays put.

Can I convert several different currencies in one column?

Yes. Build a rate table with currency codes in one column and rates in the next, then look the rate up per row: =B2*XLOOKUP(C2,$F$2:$F$10,$G$2:$G$10), or =B2*VLOOKUP(C2,$F$2:$G$10,2,FALSE) on older versions.

Does changing the currency symbol convert the amount?

No. Formatting a cell as euros leaves 100 as 100, it just draws a different symbol in front of it. Only a multiplication by an exchange rate changes the value.