ABS()

A mathematical function that returns the absolute (positive) value of the specified numeric expression. (`ABS` changes negative values to positive values. `ABS` has no effect on zero or positive values.)

Signature

ABS ( numeric_expression )

Parameters

  • numeric_expression — An expression of the exact numeric or approximate numeric data type category.

Examples

SELECT ABS(-1.0), ABS(0.0), ABS(1.0);
1.0|.0|1.0

Run against SQL Server 16.0.4265.3 on 2026-09-13. This is the output we got, not the documentation’s.

Available on

  • SQL Server 2017 and later
  • Azure SQL Database
  • Azure SQL Managed Instance
  • Azure Synapse Analytics
  • Analytics Platform System (PDW)
  • Microsoft Fabric warehouse
  • Fabric SQL database

Signature and description adapted from the Microsoft SQL documentation, used under the CC BY 4.0. SQL Server and Azure are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. This page is not affiliated with Microsoft.