DEC2HEX Function (LibreOffice Calc)

• Converts decimal → hexadecimal
• Returns a text string
• Supports optional minimum-length padding
• Handles negative numbers using two’s complement
• Useful in engineering, encoding, and bitwise workflows

DEC2HEX(number; [places])

Arguments

• number:
  Decimal integer between –549,755,813,888 and 549,755,813,887.

• places (optional):
  Minimum length of the returned hex string.
  Pads with leading zeros if necessary.

Convert decimal to hex

=DEC2HEX(255)
→ "FF"

Convert with padding

=DEC2HEX(255; 6)
→ "0000FF"

Convert a negative number

=DEC2HEX(-10)
→ "FFFFFFFFF6"   (two’s complement)

Force 8‑character hex output

=REPT("0"; 8-LEN(DEC2HEX(A1))) & DEC2HEX(A1)

Round‑trip validation

=HEX2DEC(DEC2HEX(A1))

Convert decimal → hex → binary

=DEC2BIN(HEX2DEC(DEC2HEX(A1)))

Extract the low byte

=RIGHT(DEC2HEX(A1; 2); 2)

Use in bitwise logic

=DEC2HEX(BITAND(A1; 255))

Convert a range of values

=ARRAYFORMULA(DEC2HEX(A1:A10))

DEC2HEX returns text, not a number

Valid input range

• Minimum: –549,755,813,888
• Maximum: 549,755,813,887

Negative numbers use two’s complement

Hex output is always unsigned.

Examples:

• –1 → "FFFFFFFFFF"
• –10 → "FFFFFFFFF6"

Behavior details

• If places is too small → Err:502
• If places is omitted → no padding
• If number is out of range → Err:502
• Hex letters are uppercase (A–F)

• Always specify places when consistent width is required
• Use DEC2HEX for encoding, engineering, and bitwise workflows
• Use BASE() for arbitrary‑base conversions
• Normalize hex strings before comparison
• Document two’s complement behavior for negative values

• HEX2DEC — hex → decimal
• DEC2BIN / DEC2OCT — other base conversions
• BASE — general base conversion
• BITAND / BITOR / BITXOR — bitwise logic
• TEXT functions — padding and formatting

By mastering DEC2HEX, you can build precise, encoding‑ready engineering models in LibreOffice Calc.