How to Convert Fahrenheit to Celsius in Google Sheets

To convert Fahrenheit to Celsius in Google Sheets, enter =CONVERT(A2,"F","C") for a temperature in cell A2, or use the manual formula =(A2-32)*5/9, then drag the fill handle down the column. Both give the same answer: 68 degrees Fahrenheit is 20 degrees Celsius. Convert any temperature instantly with our free Celsius to Fahrenheit converter.

The Quick Answer: The CONVERT Function

The fastest method is the built-in CONVERT function, which handles temperature units natively. Type =CONVERT(A2,"F","C") in the next column, where A2 holds the Fahrenheit value, and Sheets returns the Celsius value. The function takes three arguments: the value, the from-unit in quotes, and the to-unit in quotes, and for temperature the unit codes are F, C, and K for Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin. So =CONVERT(68,"F","C") returns 20, =CONVERT(32,"F","C") returns 0, and =CONVERT(212,"F","C") returns 100, matching the three anchor points every temperature worker memorizes. The advantage of CONVERT is readability: anyone opening your sheet sees a named conversion rather than bare arithmetic, and changing the units later means changing two letters, not rewriting the math. The disadvantage is portability: CONVERT is a Google Sheets and Excel function, but some older spreadsheet apps and CSV exports do not evaluate it, so a sheet shared as values is safer than a sheet shared as formulas. If your temperatures live in a column, enter the formula once beside the first value and double-click the fill handle to copy it down the whole column in one step. For a single value without opening a sheet, the Celsius to Fahrenheit converter gives the figure at once, and our Fahrenheit to Celsius formula guide explains the arithmetic behind both methods.

The Manual Formula: Subtract 32, Multiply by 5, Divide by 9

The manual formula is =(A2-32)*5/9, and it is worth knowing even if you prefer CONVERT, because it works in every spreadsheet ever made and in every programming language. The order matters: subtract 32 first, then multiply by 5, then divide by 9, and the parentheses in the formula enforce exactly that order. Without parentheses, =A2-32*5/9 computes 32 times 5 divided by 9 first, which is 17.78, and subtracts that from A2, giving a wrong answer for every row. A worked example: 68 minus 32 is 36, 36 times 5 is 180, and 180 divided by 9 is 20, so 68 degrees Fahrenheit is 20 degrees Celsius. Another: 98.6 minus 32 is 66.6, times 5 is 333, divided by 9 is 37, so normal body temperature is 37 degrees Celsius. The reverse formula is =(C2*9/5)+32, which turns 20 degrees Celsius back into 68 degrees Fahrenheit, and it is worth keeping beside the forward formula when a sheet must convert in both directions. A common shortcut, =(A2-32)/1.8, is mathematically identical, since 9 divided by 5 is 1.8, and it is shorter to type, but the 5/9 form is easier to audit because it shows the textbook formula. Choose one form per sheet and use it consistently, so a colleague checking your work sees one pattern, not three.

Converting a Whole Column at Once

Converting one cell is a demo; converting a column is the real job. The fill-handle method is simplest: enter the formula beside the first temperature, then double-click the small square at the bottom-right of that cell, and Sheets fills the formula down to the last adjacent value. For a column that will keep growing, use ARRAYFORMULA instead: =ARRAYFORMULA(IF(A2:A="","",CONVERT(A2:A,"F","C"))) fills every row automatically, including rows added later, and leaves blank rows blank instead of filling them with zeros or errors. The IF wrapper matters: without it, ARRAYFORMULA converts empty cells to -17.78 degrees, which is the Celsius value of zero Fahrenheit, and a column of -17.78 values looks like real data. If your source column has a header in row 1, start the range at row 2, and if it has mixed content, such as notes beside temperatures, filter first or the formula will error on text rows. Another approach for a one-off conversion is to paste the values, apply the formula, then copy the results and paste them back as values only, which freezes the answers and removes the formulas for sharing. That paste-as-values step is the right move before sending a sheet to someone who only needs the numbers, because it removes any chance of a formula breaking when they sort or filter.

Rounding and Formatting the Results

Raw conversions produce long decimals that look unprofessional, so round deliberately. The ROUND function wraps the conversion: =ROUND(CONVERT(A2,"F","C"),1) gives one decimal place, so 72.5 degrees Fahrenheit becomes 22.5 degrees Celsius rather than 22.5000000001. For whole degrees, use =ROUND(CONVERT(A2,"F","C"),0), which turns 98.6 Fahrenheit into 37 Celsius. Note the difference between rounding and formatting: setting a cell to one decimal place only changes the display, while the stored value keeps full precision, so a displayed 20.0 can still sum as 20.04 in a later average. If downstream calculations must use the rounded value, wrap with ROUND rather than formatting alone. Temperature columns also benefit from a unit label in the header, such as Temp (C), so nobody mistakes the converted column for the original, and from conditional formatting that highlights freezing values below zero in blue and high values above 38 in red. A final formatting trap is the locale decimal separator: sheets set to a European locale display 22,5 instead of 22.5, and a formula typed with a comma as the argument separator may be rejected in that locale, where semicolons separate arguments. If a formula that looks right returns an error, check the locale first before rewriting the math.

Fixing the Common Errors

The most common error is #VALUE!, which means a cell in the range contains text rather than a number, often a degree symbol typed into the value, such as 68 degrees written as 68F, or a temperature pasted from the web with a non-breaking space. Strip symbols with =VALUE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"F",""),"°","")) before converting, or clean the column with Find and Replace. The second error is #NAME?, which usually means the unit codes are mistyped, such as CONVERT with lowercase f, which Sheets rejects, or a missing quote around a unit code. The third is a wrong-but-plausible answer, almost always caused by missing parentheses in the manual formula or by converting the wrong direction, which shows up as a Celsius value larger than the Fahrenheit value for ordinary temperatures. The fourth is the -17.78 column of converted blanks from an ARRAYFORMULA without the IF guard, fixed by adding the blank check described above. The fifth is a column that converts correctly but sorts wrong, because the converted column is formulas referencing the original column, and sorting one column without the other breaks the pairing; convert to values before sorting, or sort the whole range together. When a single row looks wrong while its neighbors look right, check that row for a typed-over formula, since a hand-typed value in the middle of a formula column is invisible until you click the cell.

Beyond One Column: Kelvin, Ranges, and Reuse

Once the Fahrenheit-to-Celsius pattern works, the same two methods extend to every temperature task. Kelvin conversions use the same CONVERT codes: =CONVERT(A2,"F","K") turns 32 Fahrenheit into 273.15 Kelvin, and =CONVERT(A2,"C","K") adds 273.15 to a Celsius value. A temperature range converts endpoint by endpoint: a forecast of 50 to 68 Fahrenheit becomes 10 to 20 Celsius by converting each endpoint, not by converting the width, since a width of 18 Fahrenheit degrees is only 10 Celsius degrees, and converting the width with the full formula gives the wrong interval. For a reusable template, put the conversion in a named sheet tab, protect the formula column, and leave the input column open, so colleagues paste Fahrenheit values and read Celsius answers without touching the math. The same template idea works for other unit families in Sheets, and our centimeters to inches converter covers the length conversion that most often sits beside temperature data in lab sheets. For a single value without opening a sheet, the Celsius to Fahrenheit converter gives the figure at once, and our Celsius to Fahrenheit without a calculator guide covers the mental-math version for quick checks.