How to Find an Angle with ATAN2 in Excel

ATAN2 turns x and y offsets into an angle in the correct quadrant — then into a compass bearing for real navigation.

You will learn to

• Find the angle of an offset in radians
• Convert it to degrees in any quadrant
• Turn the angle into a 0–360° compass bearing

How it works

ATAN2(x_num, y_num) returns the angle, in radians from -π to π, between the positive x-axis and the point (x, y). Unlike ATAN(y/x), it knows which quadrant the point is in and never fails when x is 0. Note Excel’s argument order: x first, then y.

Wrap it in DEGREES to read the angle, and use =MOD(90-DEGREES(ATAN2(east,north)),360) to turn east/north offsets into a compass bearing measured clockwise from north — handy for drones, surveying and delivery routing.

=DEGREES(ATAN2(B2,C2))