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Calculate a ratio from two numbers

To generate the ratio of two numbers to each other (e.g. 4:3, 16:9, etc.), you can do using division, the GCD function, and concatenation. In the generic form of the formula (above) num1 represents the first number (the antecedent) and num2 represents the second number (the consequent). In the example, the active cell contains this formula: =B4/GCD(B4,C4)&":"&C4/GCD(B4,C4) Note: the GCD function only works with integers.

April 14, 2025 · 1 min · 59 words · Traci Wade

Then the first number is divided by the GCD.

On the right, the same operations are performed with the second number.

So, altogether, we have:

Note that the final result of this formula is a text value.

Excel GCD function

The greatest common divisor is the largest integer that goes into all supplied numbers without a remainder.

For example, =GCD(60,36) returns 12.