How to Calculate the Percent Change in Excel

1. Open Microsoft Excel.
2. Click the cell where you want the calculation to be performed.
3. Type '=(B-A)/A' and press 'Enter' to calculate the decimal change from 'A' to 'B.' Replace 'A' with the original number, and 'B' with the new number. As an example, to calculate the decimal change on a sale which reduced the original price of $120 to the sale price of $80, you would enter '=(80-120)/120' and press 'Enter.' This produces 0.3333. You can also use cell references, such as '=(A2-A1)/A1' where 'A1' references the first row of the 'A' column.
4. Right-click the cell, and select 'Format Cells...'
5. Click 'Percentage' under the 'Category' list of the 'Number' tab. Select the number of 'Decimal places' and click 'OK' to change the decimal change into percent change. The default number of decimal places is two. In the example, 0.3333 is converted into '33.33%.'