How to Square a Number in Excel — Single Cell or Entire Column

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Independently tested and verified on Sep 27, 2024. Commands reproduced exactly as run.

Prerequisites

This tutorial takes about 2 minutes to complete.

Before you start

Excel has a built-in function called POWER that raises any number to a given exponent. This tutorial shows how to use it on a single cell, then apply the formula to an entire column of numbers in one click — no dragging required.

Step 1: Enter the POWER formula

In your spreadsheet, you should have numbers in one column (for example, column A). Click into a blank cell next to it (column B, row 1), type =, then the POWER function with a reference to the first number and 2 as the exponent:

=POWER(A1,2)

Hit Enter. The squared value of cell A1 now appears in this cell.

Excel showing cell B1 with the POWER formula =POWER(A1,2) entered in the formula bar

Step 2: Double-click the fill handle to apply to all rows

To square every number in column A at once, click back on the cell with your formula (B1). Move your cursor to the bottom-right corner of that cell until it turns into a black plus sign (the fill handle), then double-click. Excel automatically fills the formula down through all adjacent rows that have data in column A.

Excel column B fully populated with squared values after using the fill handle

That's it — every number in your column is now squared. If you change any value in column A later, the corresponding cell in column B updates automatically because it still contains a live formula.

FAQ

Yes. Squaring a negative number always produces a positive result because POWER multiplies the value by itself (e.g., `POWER(-7,2)` returns `49`). The sign is removed during multiplication, so negative inputs are handled correctly without any extra steps.

If the referenced cell is blank, POWER returns `0`. If it contains text that isn't a valid number (like 'abc'), Excel returns a `#VALUE!` error. You can wrap the formula in `IFERROR()` to handle this gracefully — for example, `=IFERROR(POWER(A1,2),'')` will show nothing instead of an error when A1 is non-numeric.

Yes — you can use the caret (`^`) exponent operator instead: `=A1^2`. This produces the exact same result as `=POWER(A1,2)` but with less typing and is more commonly seen in everyday spreadsheets. The POWER function becomes useful when you need to raise numbers to powers other than 2 (e.g., `=POWER(A1,3)` for cubing).

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