How to use FACT Google Sheets formula?

The syntax for the FACT formula is =FACT(value), it has 1 required parameter.

FACT

The FACT formula calculates the factorial of a given number. The factorial of a number is the product of all positive integers from 1 to the given number. This formula is commonly used in probability and combinatorics.

How to use FACT formula?
Examples of using FACT formula
FACT formula not working?
Similar formulas to FACT

Usage

Use the FACT formula with the syntax shown below, it has 1 required parameter:

=FACT(value)

Parameters:

value (required):
The number for which to calculate the factorial. Must be a positive integer.

Examples

Here are a few example use cases that explain how to use the FACT formula in Google Sheets.

Calculate the number of permutations.

To calculate the number of permutations of n objects taken r at a time, use the formula FACT(n) / FACT(n-r).

Calculate the number of combinations.

To calculate the number of combinations of n objects taken r at a time, use the formula FACT(n) / (FACT(r) * FACT(n-r)).

Calculate the number of ways to arrange a set of objects.

To calculate the number of ways to arrange n objects in a specific order, use the formula FACT(n).

Common Mistakes

FACT not working? Here are some common mistakes people make when using the FACT Google Sheets Formula:

Missing argument

One of the most common mistakes when using the FACT formula is to forget to include the required argument 'value'. This will result in a #VALUE error. To fix this, make sure to include the value for which you want to calculate the factorial.

Non-numeric argument

The FACT formula requires the 'value' argument to be a positive integer. If you provide a non-numeric value or a negative value, you will get a #VALUE error. To fix this, make sure to provide a positive integer as the 'value' argument.

Large argument

The factorial of large numbers can quickly become very large, resulting in an error message. To avoid this, make sure to use the appropriate data type for your calculations or break down the problem into smaller parts.

The following functions are similar to FACT or are often used with it in a formula:

COMBIN
The COMBIN function calculates the number of combinations for a given number of items. A combination is a way of selecting items from a larger set where order does not matter. This function is commonly used in probability and statistics.
PERMUT
The PERMUT function returns the number of permutations of a set of objects. A permutation is a way of arranging objects in a specific order. The function takes two arguments: n, the total number of objects, and k, the number of objects to arrange. The result is the number of possible permutations. This function is commonly used in combinatorics and probability theory.
PRODUCT
The PRODUCT formula in Google Sheets multiplies all the numbers given in the arguments and returns the product. It is commonly used to calculate the total product of a range of cells.
SUM
The SUM function in Google Sheets adds up a range of numbers. This function is most commonly used to sum the values in a range of cells.
INT
The INT formula rounds a given value down to the nearest integer. This formula is often used to simplify large numbers or to convert decimal values to integers. The formula takes a single parameter, the value to be rounded down. If the value is already an integer, the formula will return the same value. If the value is a decimal, the formula will round down to the nearest integer.

Learn More

You can learn more about the FACT Google Sheets function on Google Support.