Difference Between INT and TRUNC Functions in Google Sheets

The INT and TRUNC functions in Google Sheets both round numbers, but they do so in different ways.

The two functions act the same when rounding a positive number to the ones digit. However, you can specify different levels of precision with the TRUNC function. Also, the two functions perform differently on negative numbers. Let’s take a closer look.

Examples – Rounding to One Place

Let’s look at a few numbers going through both functions.

Every input to the two functions in this example returns the same output. However, this similar behavior is limited to when the numbers are positive, and you do not change the places argument for the TRUNC function. Let’s look at the places argument in the TRUNC function first.

Insert Math Symbols (Add-On)

Examples – Different Levels of Precision

While the INT function always removes all decimals values, TRUNC can reduce values to different places.

The syntax of INT only has one argument: =INT(value)

While the syntax of TRUNC has a second optional argument for places: =TRUNC(value, [places])

Let’s take a look at a few more examples.

You can see similar results in rows 2 and 5; rows 4 and 6 show rounding abilities that INT does not have.

Example – Negative Numbers

The two functions also perform differently when working with negative numbers.

The INT function always rounds down, so -10.40 and -10.50 are both changed to -11. On the other hand, TRUNC moves -10.40 and -10.50 toward zero to -10.

Live Examples in Google Sheets

Get these examples from the live spreadsheet and keep a copy of the spreadsheet for your reference.

Conclusion

Which function you use will depend on your specific needs. If you need to round a number down to the nearest integer, use the INT function. If you need to remove different values from a number, use the TRUNC function.

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