In MS Excel 2019, which of the following operators has the highest precedence?

Excel evaluates a formula using a fixed operator-precedence hierarchy: when a formula mixes several operators, the operator with higher precedence is evaluated before one with lower precedence, regardless of their left-to-right position in the formula, unless parentheses force a different order.

Restricting the comparison to the operators offered here, Excel's documented precedence order (highest to lowest) places the percent operator above exponentiation, which in turn sits above addition, which sits above text concatenation. So among +, ^, &, and %, the percent operator is evaluated first.

This ordering can be checked with a mixed formula such as =2^3%. Because the percent operator outranks exponentiation, Excel first converts 3% to its decimal value (0.03) and only then raises 2 to that power — it does not first compute 2^3 and then apply a percent to the result. That confirms the percent operator sits above exponentiation in Excel's evaluation order.

• + (Addition): a basic arithmetic operation that sits toward the lower end of Excel's precedence hierarchy — it is evaluated only after several other operator types have already been resolved, so it cannot be the highest-precedence operator here.

• ^ (Exponentiation): ranks high among the arithmetic operators and is often assumed to be the very top of the list, but Excel's own precedence table places one further operator ahead of it, so it is not the highest here.

• & (Concatenation): joins text values rather than performing a numeric calculation, and Excel evaluates it only after every arithmetic operator has already been resolved, making it the lowest-precedence operator among those offered.

Therefore, of the operators offered — +, ^, &, and % — the percent operator (%) has the highest precedence among them in MS Excel 2019.