How to Calculate Percentages in Google Sheets

Format as percent

Select the cells, then click the % button in the toolbar, or press Ctrl+Shift+5 (Mac: ⌘+Shift+5). Same shortcut as Excel.

The four core formulas

Identical to Excel:

• P% of X: =A1*15%
• What % is Y of X: =B1/A1 (format as percent)
• Percent change: =(B1-A1)/A1
• Percent of total: =A2/SUM($A$2:$A$20)

Google Sheets shortcuts that help

• Ctrl+Shift+1 — Number format
• Ctrl+Shift+5 — Percent format
• Ctrl+Shift+4 — Currency format
• F4 after clicking a reference — toggles absolute vs relative ($A$1, A$1, $A1, A1)

Conditional formatting by percentage

Format → Conditional formatting → Format cells if: Greater than → enter 0.5 for 50%. The underlying value is what you compare against, not the displayed percent.

SPARKLINE for percentage trends

Inline percentage trend chart in a single cell:

=SPARKLINE(A2:A12, {"charttype","line"})

Useful for dashboards where you want a visual at the row level without making a separate chart.