How to Do Exponents in Word & Excel: Tips and Shortcuts

Typing exponents (or powers) on a computer can be either very simple or unnecessarily tricky, depending on where you’re trying to do it.

For instance, inserting an exponent in Microsoft Word is quick and easy using built-in tools. But doing the same in Excel or a web browser might require more effort or a different approach.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• How to type exponents in Microsoft Word using shortcuts and menus
• How to insert visual superscripts in Excel
• How to calculate powers using formulas in Excel

Let’s begin with Microsoft Word.

How to Do Exponents in Word

To type exponents in Word, you use the Superscript feature.

A superscript is a smaller character positioned slightly above the normal text line—commonly used in math (like 8²) or references (like footnotes¹).

Word has a command that allows you to type superscripts. Using this command, you can effortlessly type exponents in your Word documents. The steps below will show you how.

As an example, I’ll show you how to type 8 raised to the power 2. However, the technique applied here can be used to type any exponent in Microsoft Word.

Method 1: Using the Superscript Button

To do exponents in Word:

• Place your cursor where you want the exponent.
• Type the base number (e.g., 8).

• After you type the base number, press Ctrl+Shift+=. These hotkeys will place the cursor slightly above the line of text. Alternatively, go to the Home tab, in the Font group and click on the Superscript icon.

• Now type the exponent, which is 2 in this example.
• Press Ctrl+Shift+= again to switch the cursor back to normal.

This is just one of the four simple ways to type exponents in Word.

The other methods are explored below.

✅ Method 2: Using a Keyboard Shortcut After Typing

To type exponents in Word using a keyboard shortcut, type both the base number and the exponent. Then highlight only the exponent and press Ctrl+Shift+=.

Obey the following instructions for a step-by-step instructions to Type Exponents in Word using the keyboard shortcut.

• Open up your Word document.
• Place the cursor where you want to type the exponent.
• Type both the base number and the exponent or power. For instance, if you want to type 8², just type 82.
• Now highlight the exponent. In this example, our exponent is 2.
• Press Ctrl+Shift+= to make the 2 a superscript.

This is how you may quickly type exponents in Microsoft Word using the superscript keyboad shortcut.

✅ Method 3: Using the Font Dialog Box

This method also involved using the superscript command, but in a different approach.

The steps are outlined below:

• Open up your Word document.
• Place the cursor where you want to type the exponent.
• Type both the base number and the exponent or power. For instance, if you want to type 8², just type 82.
• Now select the exponent. In this example, the exponent is 2.
• After selecting the 2, press Ctrl+D to display the Fonts dialog.
• On the Font tab, click to select the Superscript checkbox.

• Click on the OK button.

This is how you may type superscript in Word using the Fonts dialog.

✅ Method 4: Using the Equation Tool

If you’re writing mathematical content, the Equation Tool offers a more formal way to type powers.

Without any further ado, below are the steps involved:

• Place your cursor where you want to insert the exponent.
• Now go to the Insert tab, in the Symbols group, click on the Symbol drop-down and select Equation from the list. Alternatively, press Alt+= on your keyboard. This action should display the equation field. This field is where you will type the exponent.
• Clicking inside the field will introduce a new Design tab. Click on this Design tab.
• From the Structures group, click on the Script button and select Superscript from the drop-down.

• This will display a structure of a superscript in the equation field. Click to select the placeholder boxes and type the contents as required. For instance, to type 8 to the power 2, click on the first placeholder box and type 8 for the base number. Then click on the superscripted placeholder box and type 2.

These are just the available and easy ways you can quickly put exponents into Microsoft Word.

Let’s see whether we can type exponents in Excel as well.

📊 How to do Exponents in Microsoft Excel

Typing exponents in Excel is a bit different from Word. Excel doesn’t offer a simple superscript button within cells—but there are still several ways to either display exponents or calculate them.

Let’s break it down into methods for displaying exponents (like 8² for visual formatting) and calculating powers (like 8² = 64).

✅ Method 1: Using the Equation Tool (For Display Only)

Excel has the equation tool that can be used for this task. However, it also works completely differently from Microsoft Word.

In Excel, you cannot use the equation tool to insert equations inside the cells. When you insert an equation, it appears rectangular, which you can drag to fit in any cell of your choice.

Using the equation approach in Excel, exponents are only for display or printing since they cannot be calculated by Excel.

This action should display the equation field. In this field is where you will type the exponent.

• Click inside the field, and a new Design tab will appear on the ribbon. Click on this Design tab.
• From the Structures group, click on the Script drop-down button and select Superscript from the drop-down.

• This will display a structure of a superscript in the equation field. Click to select the placeholder boxes and type the contents as required. For instance, to type 8 to the power 2, click on the first placeholder box and type 8 as the base number. Then click on the superscripted placeholder box and type 2 as the exponent.

This is how you may type Exponents as they are in Excel.

However, using the equation approach, you cannot use the do calculations since they are placed on shapes and not in the cells.

In the next section, let’s see how you may type exponents that can be calculated in Excel.

Bonus Tip: You can also display cell content as superscripts using the Formatting tools in Excel. To do so, select the content in the cell that you want to superscript and press Ctrl+Shift+F to display the Format Cells dialog. On the Font tab, in the Effects group, select the Superscript checkbox and click on the OK button.

🧮 How to Calculate Exponents in Excel (Raise to Power)

What use is the exponent, especially in Excel, if it cannot calculate?

We learned from school that exponents are used for multiplying a number by itself a given number of times. This, at times, is referred to as taking the power of numbers where the term power refers to the number of times the number is multiplied.

If you want to calculate exponents rather than just display them in your Excel worksheets, Excel provides a few different ways to do that.

Let’s look at them below.

✅ Method 1: Using the Power Function

The Power function is a mathematical function in Excel that calculates and returns the result of a number raised to a power of another number.

The Power function takes two arguments: the base number (any real number), and the power/exponent (the number that determines how many times the given number will be multiplied by itself).

The good thing about this function is that you can reference an exponent in another cell.

Obey the following instructions to calculate exponents/powers in Excel using the Power function.

• Open up Excel.
• Select the cell that will calculate the exponent.
• Type =Power( inside the cell.
• Specify your arguments. To calculate 5 raised to the power 2, type 5 as the first argument and 2 as the second argument.

• Press Enter to calculate for the result.

This is one way to calculate exponents in Excel. The next option will teach another way to do it.

✅ Method 2: Using the Caret (^) Symbol

Another way to calculate exponents in Word is to use the caret mark or symbol. This method is for you if you don’t need to reference the exponent.

The caret symbol can be used to indicate an exponent. For instance, 5^2 is the same as 5² (five raises to the power two).

Obey the following steps if you want to calculate exponents using this method:

• Open up Excel.
• Click the cell that will calculate the exponent.
• Type this formula: =5^2. To type the caret (^) mark on Windows, press Shift+6 on your keyboard (Don’t use the number keypad on the side of your keyboard).
• Press the Enter key for the result.

✅ Summary of Excel Methods

Purpose	Method	Example Formula
Display only	Equation Tool	Alt + = → Script
Visual superscript	Format Cells → Superscript	82 formatted
Calculate powers	POWER Function	=POWER(5,2)
Calculate powers	Caret Symbol	=5^2

✅ Final Thoughts

Typing and calculating exponents doesn’t have to be complicated—whether you’re working in Microsoft Word or Excel. If you’re only looking to visually format numbers (like 8²), Word makes it incredibly easy with superscript shortcuts and the equation tool. Excel offers similar formatting options but through workarounds like the Format Cells dialog or equation shapes.

However, if your goal is to perform exponent calculations, Excel shines. With simple functions like =POWER() and the caret symbol (^), you can compute powers in just seconds.

By using the right method for the right tool, you’ll save time and get better results when working with exponents on your documents and spreadsheets.