Excel 365 VALUETOTEXT Function Explained: Syntax, Examples, and Use Cases

Jun 26, 2025

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🔤 VALUETOTEXT Function in Excel 365 – Explained in Detail

✅ What is VALUETOTEXT?

The VALUETOTEXT function in Excel 365 converts any value — number, text, logical value, or error — into a text string.

It is particularly useful when you want to ensure data types are consistent, especially when working with dynamic arrays, formulas, or combining different data types into text outputs.

📘 Syntax

=VALUETOTEXT(value, [format])

Argument	Description
`value`	The value or range you want to convert to text
`format` (optional)	Format type: `0` for concise (default), `1` for strict

🧩 Format Options

0 (Concise) – Outputs text without quotes, more human-readable.
1 (Strict) – Outputs text with quotes, useful for programming/debugging.

📌 Examples

✅ Example 1: Convert a number to text

=VALUETOTEXT(123)

Result: "123"

✅ Example 2: Convert boolean to text

=VALUETOTEXT(TRUE)

Result: "TRUE"

✅ Example 3: Convert a text value (with default format)

=VALUETOTEXT("Excel")

Result: "Excel" (No quotes in the result because default format is concise)

✅ Example 4: Use strict formatting

=VALUETOTEXT("Excel", 1)

Result: "\"Excel\"" (Quotes included)

✅ Example 5: Convert a formula result

=VALUETOTEXT(A1+B1)

If A1 = 10 and B1 = 20, result: "30"

🧠 Usage with Arrays

If you use VALUETOTEXT on an array, it returns each item as a text string, making it useful for debugging array formulas.

=VALUETOTEXT({1,2,3})

Result: { "1", "2", "3" } (array of text)

🎯 When Should You Use VALUETOTEXT?

✅ When building dynamic labels, tooltips, or messages with text + values
✅ When converting numeric output to text format for export
✅ For debugging dynamic array formulas
✅ To standardize data type for further text manipulation or functions like TEXTJOIN, CONCAT, etc.

⚠️ Important Notes

VALUETOTEXT is available only in Excel 365 and Excel 2021.
It’s similar to TEXT, but simpler and doesn’t require a number format.
Different from VALUE, which converts text to a number (opposite functionality).

🔁 Comparison: `VALUETOTEXT` vs `TEXT`

Feature	`VALUETOTEXT`	`TEXT`
Converts to text?	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Requires format?	❌ No	✅ Yes (number format)
Works on arrays?	✅ Yes	✅ Yes (limited)
Output formatting	Basic text conversion	Custom number/text format