SIGN()

Returns the positive (+1), zero (0), or negative (-1) sign of the specified expression.

Signature

SIGN ( numeric_expression )

Parameters

  • numeric_expression — Is an expression of the exact numeric or approximate numeric data type category, except for the bit data type.

Examples

SELECT SIGN(-125), SIGN(0), SIGN(564);
-1|0|1

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.