Conversion of numbers to absolute

Question

QUESTION: I have a column of 1000 numbers some positive some negative. How can I convert all the numbers to their absolute value. I have very limited knowledge of excel. Thankyou Jerry

ANSWER: Assuming your number is in A1, then in A2 for example, use the formula below and copy and paste as far down as needed

=ABS(A1)

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QUESTION: I have a list of 500 negative I tried what you said and it would appear that I have to enter the individual number in the equation you supplied if that's the case I might as well just enter the positive value manually in the next column. Am I misinterpreting what you said? I entered =ABS(A1) and got an error

Answer

I don't know how you are interpretting what I had suggested so I can't answer that. Try this:

Type -1000 in C1 and make sure C1 is formatted as a number and NOT text. In D1, type =ABS(C1) and you should get 1000. If that works, and it should, then my suggestion works.

Then you should be able to do what I have suggested.