Format for numbers in excel

In Excel, you can format numbers in cells for things like currency, percentages, decimals, dates, phone numbers, or social security numbers.

Formula bar and a related cell

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  1. Select a cell or a cell range.

  2. On the Home tab, select Number from the drop-down.
    General
    Or, you can choose one of these options:

    • Press CTRL + 1 and select Number.

    • Right-click the cell or cell range, select Format Cells… , and select Number.

    • Select the small arrow, dialog box launcher, and then select Number.

  3. Select the format you want.

Number formats

To see all available number formats, click the Dialog Box Launcher next to Number on the Home tab in the Number group.

Dialog Box Launcher in Number group

Format

Description

General

The default number format that Excel applies when you type a number. For the most part, numbers that are formatted with the General format are displayed just the way you type them. However, if the cell is not wide enough to show the entire number, the General format rounds the numbers with decimals. The General number format also uses scientific (exponential) notation for large numbers (12 or more digits).

Number

Used for the general display of numbers. You can specify the number of decimal places that you want to use, whether you want to use a thousands separator, and how you want to display negative numbers.

Currency

Used for general monetary values and displays the default currency symbol with numbers. You can specify the number of decimal places that you want to use, whether you want to use a thousands separator, and how you want to display negative numbers.

Accounting

Also used for monetary values, but it aligns the currency symbols and decimal points of numbers in a column.

Date

Displays date and time serial numbers as date values, according to the type and locale (location) that you specify. Date formats that begin with an asterisk (*) respond to changes in regional date and time settings that are specified in Control Panel. Formats without an asterisk are not affected by Control Panel settings.

Time

Displays date and time serial numbers as time values, according to the type and locale (location) that you specify. Time formats that begin with an asterisk (*) respond to changes in regional date and time settings that are specified in Control Panel. Formats without an asterisk are not affected by Control Panel settings.

Percentage

Multiplies the cell value by 100 and displays the result with a percent (%) symbol. You can specify the number of decimal places that you want to use.

Fraction

Displays a number as a fraction, according to the type of fraction that you specify.

Scientific

Displays a number in exponential notation, replacing part of the number with E+n, where E (which stands for Exponent) multiplies the preceding number by 10 to the nth power. For example, a 2-decimal Scientific format displays 12345678901 as 1.23E+10, which is 1.23 times 10 to the 10th power. You can specify the number of decimal places that you want to use.

Text

Treats the content of a cell as text and displays the content exactly as you type it, even when you type numbers.

Special

Displays a number as a postal code (ZIP Code), phone number, or Social Security number.

Custom

Allows you to modify a copy of an existing number format code. Use this format to create a custom number format that is added to the list of number format codes. You can add between 200 and 250 custom number formats, depending on the language version of Excel that is installed on your computer. For more information about custom formats, see Create or delete a custom number format.

You can apply different formats to numbers to change how they appear. The formats only change how the numbers are displayed and don’t affect the values. For example, if you want a number to show as currency, you’d click the cell with the number value > Currency.

Available number formats

Applying a number format only changes how the number is displayed and doesn’t affect cell values that’s used to perform calculations. You can see the actual value in the formula bar.

View of a number value in the function bar

Here’s a list of available number formats and how you can use them in Excel for the web:

Number format

Description

General

Default number format. If the cell isn’t wide enough to show the entire number, this format rounds the number. For example, 25.76 shows as 26.

Also, if the number is 12 or more digits, General format displays the value with scientific (exponential) notation.

a number value shows as exponential when it is twelve digits or more

Number

Works very much like the General format but varies how it shows numbers with decimal place separators and negative numbers. Here are some examples of how both formats display numbers:

sample of how numbers appear with different formats like Number and General formats.

Currency

Shows a monetary symbol with numbers. You can specify the number of decimal places with Increase Decimal or Decrease Decimal.

increase or decrease decimal places on number formatting

Accounting

Also used for monetary values, but aligns the currency symbols and decimal points of numbers in a column.

Short Date

Shows date in this format:

short date format

Long Date

Shows month, day and year in this format:

Long date format

Time

Shows number date and time serial numbers as time values.

Percentage

Multiplies the cell value by 100 and displays the result with a percent (%) symbol.

Use Increase Decimal or Decrease Decimal to specify the number of decimal places you want.

increase or decrease decimal places on number formatting

Fraction

Shows the number as a fraction. For example, 0.5 displays as ½.

Scientific

Displays numbers in exponential notation, replacing part of the number with E+n, where E (Exponent) multiplies the preceding number by 10 to the nth power. For example, a 2-decimal Scientific format displays 12345678901 as 1.23E+10, which is 1.23 times 10 to the 10th power. To specify the number of decimal places you want to use, apply Increase Decimal or Decrease Decimal.

Text

Treats the cell value as text and displays it exactly as you type it, even when you type numbers. Learn more about formatting numbers as text.

Introduction

Number formats control how numbers are displayed in Excel. The key benefit of number formats is that they change how a number looks without changing any data. They are a great way to save time in Excel because they perform a huge amount of formatting automatically. As a bonus, they make worksheets look more consistent and professional.

Video: What is a number format

What can you do with custom number formats?

Custom number formats can control the display of numbers, dates, times, fractions, percentages, and other numeric values. Using custom formats, you can do things like format dates to show month names only, format large numbers in millions or thousands, and display negative numbers in red.

Sample custom number formats

Where can you use custom number formats?

Many areas in Excel support number formats. You can use them in tables, charts, pivot tables, formulas, and directly on the worksheet.

  • Worksheet — format cells dialog
  • Pivot Tables — via value field settings
  • Charts — data labels and axis options
  • Formulas — via the TEXT function

What is a number format?

A number format is a special code to control how a value is displayed in Excel. For example, the table below shows 7 different number formats applied to the same date, January 1, 2019:

Input Code Result
1-Jan-2019 yyyy 2019
1-Jan-2019 yy 19
1-Jan-2019 mmm Jan
1-Jan-2019 mmmm January
1-Jan-2019 d 1
1-Jan-2019 ddd Tue
1-Jan-2019 dddd Tuesday

The key thing to understand is that number formats change the way numeric values are displayed, but they do not change the actual values.

Where can you find number formats?

On the home tab of the ribbon, you’ll find a menu of build-in number formats. Below this menu to the right, there is a small button to access all number formats, including custom formats:

Number format menu on Home tab of Ribbon

This button opens the Format Cells dialog box. You’ll find a complete list of number formats, organized by category, on the Number tab:

Format Cells dialog box on Number tab

Note: you can open Format Cells dialog box with the keyboard shortcut Control + 1.

General is default

By default, cells start with the General format applied. The display of numbers using the General number format is somewhat «fluid». Excel will display as many decimal places as space allows, and will round decimals and use scientific number format when space is limited. The screen below shows the same values in column B and D, but D is narrower and Excel makes adjustments on the fly.

General number format in narrow column

How to change number formats

You can select standard number formats (General, Number, Currency, Accounting, Short Date, Long Date, Time, Percentage, Fraction, Scientific, Text) on the home tab of the ribbon using the Number Format menu.

Note: As you enter data, Excel will sometimes change number formats automatically. For example if you enter a valid date, Excel will change to «Date» format. If you enter a percentage like 5%, Excel will change to Percentage, and so on.

Shortcuts for number formats

Excel provides a number of keyboard shortcuts for some common formats:

Format Shortcut
General format Ctrl Shift ~
Currency format Ctrl Shift $
Percentage format Ctrl Shift %
Scientific format Ctrl Shift ^
Date format Ctrl Shift #
Time format Ctrl Shift @
Custom formats Control + 1

See also: 222 Excel Shortcuts for Windows and Mac

Where to enter custom formats

At the bottom of the predefined formats, you’ll see a category called custom. The Custom category shows a list of codes you can use for custom number formats, along with an input area to enter codes manually in various combinations.

Custom category in format cells dialog box

When you select a code from the list, you’ll see it appear in the Type input box. Here you can modify existing custom code, or to enter your own codes from scratch. Excel will show a small preview of the code applied to the first selected value above the input area.

Note: Custom number formats live in a workbook, not in Excel generally. If you copy a value formatted with a custom format from one workbook to another, the custom number format will be transferred into the workbook along with the value.

How to create a custom number format

To create custom number format follow this simple 4-step process:

  1. Select cell(s) with values you want to format
  2. Control + 1 > Numbers > Custom
  3. Enter codes and watch preview area to see result
  4. Press OK to save and apply 

Tip: if you want base your custom format on an existing format, first apply the base format, then click the «Custom» category and edit codes as you like.

How to edit a custom number format

You can’t really edit a custom number format per se. When you change an existing custom number format, a new format is created and will appear in the list in the Custom category. You can use the Delete button to delete custom formats you no longer need.

Warning: there is no «undo» after deleting a custom number format!

Structure and Reference

Excel custom number formats have a specific structure. Each number format can have up to four sections, separated with semi-colons as follows:

Custom number format structure

This structure can make custom number formats look overwhelmingly complex. To read a custom number format, learn to spot the semi-colons and mentally parse the code into these sections:

  1. Positive values
  2. Negative values
  3. Zero values
  4. Text values

Not all sections required

Although a number format can include up to four sections, only one section is required. By default, the first section applies to positive numbers, the second section applies to negative numbers, the third section applies to zero values, and the fourth section applies to text.

  • When only one format is provided, Excel will use that format for all values.
  • If you provide a number format with just two sections, the first section is used for positive numbers and zeros, and the second section is used for negative numbers.
  • To skip a section, include a semi-colon in the proper location, but don’t specify a format code.

Characters that display natively

Some characters appear normally in a number format, while others require special handling. The following characters can be used without any special handling:

Character Comment
$ Dollar
+- Plus, minus
() Parentheses
{} Curly braces
<> Less than, greater than
= Equal
: Colon
^ Caret
Apostrophe
/ Forward slash
! Exclamation point
& Ampersand
~ Tilde
  Space character

Escaping characters

Some characters won’t work correctly in a custom number format without being escaped. For example, the asterisk (*), hash (#), and percent (%) characters can’t be used directly in a custom number format – they won’t appear in the result. The escape character in custom number formats is the backslash (). By placing the backslash before the character, you can use them in custom number formats:

Value Code Result
100 #0 #100
100 *0 *100
100 %0 %100

Placeholders

Certain characters have special meaning in custom number format codes. The following characters are key building blocks:

Character Purpose
0 Display insignificant zeros
# Display significant digits
? Display aligned decimals
. Decimal point
, Thousands separator
* Repeat following character
_ Add space
@ Placeholder for text

Zero (0) is used to force the display of insignificant zeros when a number has fewer digits than zeros in the format. For example, the custom format 0.00 will display zero as 0.00, 1.1 as 1.10 and .5 as 0.50.

Zero placeholder examples

Pound sign (#) is a placeholder for optional digits. When a number has fewer digits than # symbols in the format, nothing will be displayed. For example, the custom format #.## will display 1.15 as 1.15 and 1.1 as 1.1.

Pound placeholder examples

Question mark (?) is used to align digits. When a question mark occupies a place not needed in a number, a space will be added to maintain visual alignment. 

Question mark placeholder examples

Period (.) is a placeholder for the decimal point in a number. When a period is used in a custom number format, it will always be displayed, regardless of whether the number contains decimal values.

Comma (,) is a placeholder for the thousands separators in the number being displayed.  It can be used to define the behavior of digits in relation to the thousands or millions digits.

Comma placeholder examples

Asterisk (*) is used to repeat characters. The character immediately following an asterisk will be repeated to fill remaining space in a cell.

Asterisk placeholder examples

Underscore (_) is used to add space in a number format. The character immediately following an underscore character controls how much space to add. A common use of the underscore character is to add space to align positive and negative values when a number format is adding parentheses to negative numbers only. For example, the number format «0_);(0)» is adding a bit of space to the right of positive numbers so that they stay aligned with negative numbers, which are enclosed in parentheses.

Underscore placeholder examples

At (@) — placeholder for text. For example, the following number format will display text values in blue:

0;0;0;[Blue]@

See below for more information about using color.

Automatic rounding

It’s important to understand that Excel will perform «visual rounding» with all custom number formats. When a number has more digits than placeholders on the right side of the decimal point, the number is rounded to the number of placeholders. When a number has more digits than placeholders on the left side of the decimal point, extra digits are displayed. This is a visual effect only; actual values are not modified.

Number formats for TEXT

To display both text along with numbers, enclose the text in double quotes («»).  You can use this  approach to append or prepend text strings in a custom number format, as shown in the table below.

Value Code Result
10 General» units» 10 units
10 0.0″ units» 10.0 units
5.5 0.0″ feet» 5.5 feet
30000 0″ feet» 30000 feet
95.2 «Score: «0.0 Score: 95.2
1-Jun «Date: «mmmm d Date: June 1

Number formats for DATES

Dates in Excel are just numbers, so you can use custom number formats to change the way they display. Excel has many specific codes you can use to display components of a date in different ways. The screen below shows how Excel displays the date in D5, September 3, 2018, with a variety of custom number formats:

Number format codes for dates

Number formats for TIME

Times in Excel are fractional parts of a day. For example, 12:00 PM is 0.5, and 6:00 PM is 0.75. You can use the following codes in custom time formats to display components of a time in different ways. The screen below shows how Excel displays the time in D5, 9:35:07 AM, with a variety of custom number formats:

Number format codes for times

Note: m and mm can’t be used alone in a custom number format since they conflict with the month number code in date format codes.

Number formats for ELAPSED TIME

Elapsed time is a special case and needs special handling. By using square brackets, Excel provides a special way to display elapsed hours, minutes, and seconds. The following screen shows how Excel displays elapsed time based on the value in D5, which represents 1.25 days:

Number format codes for elapsed time

Number formats for COLORS

Excel provides basic support for colors in custom number formats. The following 8 colors can be specified by name in a number format: [black] [white] [red][green] [blue] [yellow] [magenta] [cyan]. Color names must appear in brackets.

Custom number format with colors

Colors by index

In addition to color names, it’s also possible to specify colors by an index number (Color1,Color2,Color3, etc.) The examples below are using the custom number format: [ColorX]0″▲▼», where X is a number between 1-56:

[Color1]0"▲▼" // black
[Color2]0"▲▼" // white
[Color3]0"▲▼" // red
[Color4]0"▲▼" // green
etc.

The triangle symbols have been added only to make the colors easier to see. The first image shows all 56 colors on a standard white background. The second image shows the same colors on a gray background. Note the first 8 colors shown correspond to the named color list above.

Custom number format colors on white

Custom number format colors on gray background

Apply number formats in a formula

Although most number formats are applied directly to cells in a worksheet, you can also apply number formats inside a formula with the TEXT function. For example, with a valid date in A1, the following formula will display the month name only:

=TEXT(A1,"mmmm")

The result of the TEXT function is always text, so you are free to concatenate the result of TEXT to other strings:

="The contract expires in "&TEXT(A1,"mmmm")

The screen below shows the number formats in column C being applied to numbers in column B using the TEXT function:

Applying number formats with the TEXT function

One quirk of the TEXT function relates to double quotes («») that are part of certain custom number formats. Because the format_text is entered as a text string, Excel won’t allow you to enter the formula without removing the quotes or adding more quotes. For example, to display a large number in thousands, you can use a custom number format like this:

0, "k"

Notice k appears in quotes («k»). To apply the same format with the TEXT function, you can use simply:

=TEXT(A1,"0, k")

Notice the k is not surrounded by quotes. Alternately, you can add extra double quotes as below, which returns the same result:

=TEXT(A1,"0,""K""")

This behavior only occurs when you are hardcoding a format inside TEXT. If you are applying a format entered elsewhere on the worksheet (as in cells C6 and C9 in the worksheet above) you can use a standard number format.

Measurements

You can use a custom number format to display numbers with an inches mark («) or a feet mark (‘). In the screen below, the number formats used for inches and feet are:

0.00 ' // feet
0.00 " // inches

Number formats for feet and inches

These results are simplistic, and can’t be combined in a single number format. You can however use a formula to display feet together with inches.

Conditionals

Custom number formats also up to two conditions, which are written in square brackets like [>100] or [<=100]. When you use conditionals in custom number formats, you override the standard [positive];[negative];[zero];[text] structure. For example, to display values below 100 in red, you can use:

[Red][<100]0;0

To display values greater than or equal to 100 in blue, you can extend the format like this:

[Red][<100]0;[Blue][>=100]0

Conditions with custom number formats

To apply more than two conditions, or to change other cell attributes, like fill color, etc. you’ll need to switch to Conditional Formatting, which can apply formatting with much more power and flexibility using formulas.

Plural text labels

You can use conditionals to add an «s» to labels greater than zero with a custom format like this:

[=1]0″ day»;0″ days»

Custom number format for plural text

Telephone numbers

Custom number formats can also be used for telephone numbers, as shown in the screen below:

Custom number format for telephone numbers

Notice the third and fourth examples use a conditional format to check for numbers that contain an area code. If you have data that contains phone numbers with hard-coded punctuation (parentheses, hyphens, etc.) you will need to clean the telephone numbers first so that they only contain numbers.

Hide all content

You can actually use a custom number format to hide all content in a cell. The code is simply three semi-colons and nothing else ;;;

To reveal the content again, you can use the keyboard shortcut Control + Shift + ~, which applies the General format.

Other resources

  • Developer Bryan Braun built a nice interactive tool for building custom number formats
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Number Formatting in Excel: Step-by-Step Tutorial (2023)

Number Formatting in Excel: Step-by-Step Tutorial (2023)

We all know how to apply the basic numeric and text formats to cells in Excel.

But do you know how you can add a desired number of decimals, scientific notations, currency symbols, and similar formats in Excel with only a click?

No? This article is for you. It delves into the details of number formatting in Excel. 🤩

Keep reading till the end, and download our free sample workbook here before you scroll down.

What are number formats?

Type something into a cell. What is its format?

General Format

By default, all cells of Excel will have the General format applied.

However, type in a big number that exceeds the size of the cell, and Excel would give you back something like 1.2E+12.

Scientific notation

What is this? A scientific notation. Under General format, Excel replaces a number too big to fit the cell with its scientific notation.

To turn it into a number, change the format to ‘Numbers’ and adjust the cell size.

Changing number formats

Check the formula bar to note how the number remains the same under both formats i.e. 1200000000000.

What changes is only the visual representation of the said number in Excel (decimal places added).

Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office Specialist

That is how formats work in Excel.

And you can change the format of a number with a mere click. Excel offers many number formats with useful variations to them.

Thousands separator

In the image below we have different numbers.

Numbers in Excel

By now, it only seems like a number that is hard to read. Maybe that’s because it doesn’t yet have 1000s separators (any commas) to it.

  1. Select the cell.
  2. Go to Home > Number
Home > Number
  1. From the menu, go to More Number Formats
This launches the Format Cells dialog box.

This launches the Format Cells dialog box.

You may use the keyboard shortcut (Control Key + 1) to launch the Format Cells dialog box.

Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office Specialist
Format Cells dialogue box
  1. Go to Number Format.
  2. Check the ‘Use 1000 Separator’ box.
Use 1000 Separator box
  1. Here are the results.
Thousand Separators added

A shortcut to add the 1000s separator: Go to Home > Number > click on the comma symbol

Click on the comma symbol

However, this changes the number format to the Accounting format.

Format changed to accounting

Controlling decimals

In the same example, as above, there are two decimals to the number.

Two decimals to the number

But you want four decimal places to this number. How can this be done?

  1. Select the cell.
  2. Go to Home > Number > More Number Formats
More Number Formats
  1. From the Format Cells dialog box, go to Number Format.
  2. Adjust the decimal places to four.
Decimal places to four
  1. Here are the results.
Decimal places set to four

A shortcut to adjust decimal places. Go to Home > Number > Add decimals button

Add decimals button

With every click, Excel adds another decimal position to the number.

The button with a right-headed arrow reduces a decimal position.

The button with a left-headed arrow adds a decimal position.

Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office Specialist

Show as percentage

Here is a decimal number that we want to be converted into a percentage.

Decimal to be converted into percentage

To do this:

  1. Select the cell.
  2. Go to Home > Number > More Number Formats
More Number Format code
  1. From the Format Cells dialog box, go to Number Format.
  2. Click on Percentage.
Percentage
  1. Adjust the decimal places as desired.
Decimal places
  1. Here are the results.
Percentage to the desired decimals added

A shortcut to convert a number into a percentage. Go to Home > Number > Click the % symbol

The % symbol

Number formatting presets

Excel offers a wide variety of number formatting presets. (You must’ve had a slight idea of that by now.)

These range from currency to accounting to dates and whatnot.

Let’s look into each of these formats below.

General number format preset

The general number format of Excel is the default format of any value in Excel.

All values in all cells of Excel will have the general number format by default.

  1. To apply the general format to any cell in Excel, select that cell.
  2. Press the Control key + 1 to launch the Format cells dialog box. That’s a handy shortcut 😊.
  3. Choose the ‘General number’ format.
Cell format changed to general number format
  1. Values formatted as general numbers are displayed just the way they are.

Pro Tip!

Under the General number format, if the cell is not wide enough to contain a number, Excel would:

  1. Round a number with decimals to lesser decimal places; or
  2. Use scientific notation to express the number; or
  3. If the cell is too small to fit in the scientific notation for the number even, display a series of hashes only.

Number format preset

The Excel number format is used for simple numeric values

To apply the number format to any cell:

  1. Select the cell.
  2. Go to Home > Numbers > Drop Down Menu and click on Number Format.
Number Formatting

The number format allows users three further variations to the final value:

  1. The decimal places. You can adjust decimal places to any desired number.
Adjusting the decimal places
  1. The 1000 Separator. Check the box if you need 1000s separators to the value.
The 1000 Separator
  1. The format of negative numbers. This could be in two colors (black or red) and enclosed within brackets or with a minus sign.
Choosing the negative number format

The Sample box gives a preview of what the final value may look like.

Number formatted

Must Note:

Under the Numbers format, if you type a number in a cell that is too big to fit in the cell, Excel might return a series of hashes only.

Series of hashes

In such a case, one must know that the problem simply lies within the size of the cell. (that is too small to fit in the cell value).

To work this out, increase the width of the column until it is wide enough to fit in the cell value.

Increasing the column width

Currency format preset

The Currency format is used to denote currencies.

To format a number as currency:

  1. Go to Home > Numbers > Drop Down Menu > Click on Currency.
Number formatting as currency

It allows you to adjust three options to your desire:

  1. The decimal places.
Adjusting the decimal places
  1. The currency symbol.
Adjusting the currency symbol
  1. The format of negative numbers. This could be in two colors (black or red) and enclosed within brackets or with a minus sign.
Choosing the negative number format

Here is what a currency formatted number looks like.

Currency formatted

Date format presets

There are two date formats offered by Excel – short date and long date.

Date format in Excel

To format a number as a date, go to Format Cells and choose the date format you’d want to be applied.

Different date formats

Excel offers a wide variety of formats for dates and days.

Here is how the date format works.

Formatting numbers as dates

Pro Tip!

Type any number into Excel and apply the date formatting to it. Excel turns it into a date.

This is because Excel recognizes each date as a number. Where 1 is equal to 01 Jan 1900, 2 is equal to 02 Jan 1900, and so on.

Accounting format preset

Next is the accounting format preset.

This format is relevant when you’re working with financial data. For example, while preparing financial statements, forecasts, or similar reports.

To apply accounting format to a number:

  1. Go to Home > Numbers > Drop Down Menu > Click on Accounting Format.
Number formatting to accounting format

It allows you to adjust two features to your desire:

  1. The decimal places.
Adjusting the decimal places
  1. The currency symbol.
Adjusting the currency symbol

Here is what an accounting formatted number looks like.

Accounting formatting

Under the accounting format, 1000s separators and currency symbols are added by default. And negative numbers are enclosed in parenthesis i.e. $ (1925.60) etc.

Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office Specialist

Time format preset

Excel also offers a wide variety of ways how you may represent times in Excel.

To apply the time format, go to Format Cells and choose the time format you’d want to apply.

Different time formats

You can format it to be displayed as HH:MM:SS or any other way you like.

Here is how the time format looks in action.

 Formatting as time

Formatting shortcuts

There are plenty of shortcuts on how you may quickly format cell values in Excel.

You can format numbers by using these keyboard shortcuts. Simply select the cell (or cells) where you want the formatting applied and use the shortcuts below.

  • Control Key + Shift Key + ~ : Applies the General format
  • Control Key + Shift Key + ! : Applies the Number format
  • Control Key + Shift Key + $ : Applies the Currency format
  • Control Key + Shift Key + % : Applies the Percentage format
  • Control Key + Shift Key + ^ : Applies the Scientific notation format
  • Control Key + Shift Key + # : Applies the Date format
  • Control Key + Shift Key + @ : Applies the Time format

All of these are shortcut keys and only apply the default formats (like the default two decimal places or HH:MM:SS AM/PM format etc.)

Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office Specialist

Custom formatting

Tired already? However, the number formats list has yet not come to an end.

The last and the most important number format of Excel is the Custom Format.

Under this format, you can customize a number format as needed.

  1. Go to Home > Numbers > Drop Down Menu > More Number Formats.
  2. Click on Custom Format.
Custom formats
  1. Under the custom formatting, you see different formats.
Custom Number formats
  1. To create a custom number format, choose the format that closely matches what you are looking for.
  2. Customize it as needed (keep an eye on the sample to see if you’ve reached your desired format).
  3. And save your custom number format.

That’s it – Now what?

Like all the amazing tools offered by Microsoft Excel, number formats are a whole toolkit in itself.

There’s so much to explore, and this article only gives you an idea of how you can come up with different visual representations of the same value.

Not only that, but if you fail to find the format you’re looking for – you can customize one for yourself. That’s where the possibilities become limitless.

Want to learn further? Learn the core functions of Excel including the VLOOKUP, SUMIF, and IF functions.

You need not go any further to master these functions. Click here to sign up for my free 30-minute email course that will take you through these and many more functions in no time.

Kasper Langmann2023-01-19T12:13:39+00:00

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If you used Excel in any shape or form, there is a pretty good chance that you’ve used the formatting and number formatting features. Formatting options like number, currency, percentage, date and time values are easily accessible to users. However, that’s not all there is in the world of text and number formatting. Going down the rabbit hole, custom formatting can help you fully configure Excel’s built-in settings for formatting.

The main advantage of this approach is that you can alter the look of your data without changing the actual values. This means that you do not need to use additional spaces or formulas to create the layout you want and preserve the raw data.

If you want to modify your data anyways, or need to change a value inside a formula, you can use the TEXT function with all custom formatting syntax we are going to cover in this article. It should be noted that the TEXT function returns a text, and the return value cannot be used in mathematical calculations. If you do, you will receive a #VALUE! error. In this article we’re going to be using a workbook template. You can download it below.

How to create a custom number format in Excel

  1. Select the cell to be formatted and press Ctrl+1 to open the Format Cells dialog. An alternative way to do is by right-clicking the cell and then going to Format Cells > Number Tab.
  2. Under Category, select Custom.
  3. Type in the format code into the Type
  4. Click OK to save your changes.

Note: In Format Cells dialog you can modify the built-in format codes by selecting the format you want to modify in its own category (i.e. Currency > ($1,234.10)) and then selecting Custom Category. Don’t worry, Excel will not let you delete built-in formats.

Number Formatting in Excel - All You Need to Know

Basics

Syntax

The format code has 4 sections separated by semicolons.

POSITIVE; NEGATIVE; ZERO; TEXT

These sections are optional,

  • If a code contains only 1 section, the format is applied to all number types — positive, negative and zero.
  • If a code contains 2 sections, the first section is used for positive and zero values, while the second section is applied to negative values.
  • If a code contains 3 sections, the first is for positive, the second is for negative, and the third is for zero.
  • A code only affects text values if all sections exist.

Default format type in Excel is called General. You can type General for sections you don’t want formatted. Make sure you use a minus sign (-) with General if you want to skip negative values.

If you want to completely hide a type, leave it blank after the semicolon. For example; to hide 0 values, General;-General;;General

Placeholders and the Cheat Sheet

Placeholder Description Raw Value Format Code Formatted Value
General Default format 1234.567 General 1234.567
# Placeholder for digits (numbers) and does not add any leading zeroes. 1234.567 #####.#### 1234.567
0 Placeholder for digits (numbers) and add any leading zeroes. 1234.567 00000.0000 01234.5670
? Placeholder for digits (numbers) and add space characters. 1234.567 ?????.????  1234.567
. Placeholder for the decimal place. 1234.567 0.00 1234.57
_ Adds a blank space, to the width of the following character. You can use in combination with parentheses to add left and right indents, _( and _) respectively. 99 _(#_);(#)  99
-25 (25)
58  58
12  12
-71 (71)
36  36
* Repeats the character after asterisk until the width of the cell is filled. 66 0 *! 66 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Full Name @ *_ Full Name ____
% Convert value to a percentage with % sign 0.12 % 12%
, Thousands separator 1234.567 #, 1
12345678 #, 12,346
12345678 #,###, 12,346
12345678 #,, 12
E Scientific notation format. Requires a ‘+’ symbol after, and a digit placeholder before and after. 1234.567 0.00E+00 1.23E+03
/ Represents fractions 1.234 # ##/## 1 11/47
1.234 # 000/000 1 117/500
1.234 ##/## 58/47
«» Text placeholder for multiple characters 1234.567 #,##0 «km/h» 1,235 km/h
Good «Result is: «@ Result is: Good
Text placeholder for single character 1234 #.00, K 1.23 K
1234567 #.00,, M 1.23 M
@ Placeholder for text Bad «Result is: «@ Result is: Bad
[color] Change Color of value. Options: [Black], [Green], [White], [Blue], [Magenta], [Yellow], [Cyan], [Red] 1234.567 [Green]#,##0.00_);
[Red](#,##0.00);
[Blue]0.00_);
[Magenta]@
1,234.57
-1234.567 (1,234.57)
0 0.00
This is a text This is a text

Common Practices

Display and control of the first digit and decimals

Decimal places in the code are indicated with a period (.). Number of zeroes after the period (.) define the number of decimal places. For example,

  • 0 — display 1 decimal place
  • 00 — display 2 decimal places

If the number has more decimals than the decimal placeholders defined, the number will be rounded to the nearest number of placeholders.

Raw Value Format Code Formatted Value
123.4 0.0 123.4
123.4 0.00 123.40
123.45 0.00 123.45
123.45 0.00 123.46
123.456 0.0 123.5

Alternatively, hash (#) and question mark (?) symbols can be used as decimal places. However, because any missing decimal places will be filled with zeroes, using zeroes instead will be easier to read.

Raw Value Format Code Formatted Value
0.25 0.00 0.25
0.25 #.## .25
123 0.00 123.0
123 #.?? 123.00
123 #.## 123.

Add text to numbers

Custom text can be added to the beginning or the end of a value. Text and characters should be added inside quotes («») and backslashes (). You can use backslash () to add single character.

Raw Value Format Code Formatted Value
123.4 0.0 «ft.» 123.4 ft.
123.4 0.00 l 123.40 l
123.45 «Approx.» 0 Approx. 123
123.45 «Result:» 0.00 C Result: 123.46 C
Bad «Result is: «@ Result is: Bad

Quotation marks or backslashes are not necessary for spaces ( ) and some special characters.

Symbol Description
+ and — Plus and minus signs
( ) Left and right parenthesis
: Colon
^ Caret
Apostrophe
{ } Curly brackets
< > Less-than and greater than signs
= Equal sign
/ Forward slash
! Exclamation point
& Ampersand
~ Tilde
Space character

Below are some special characters you can use by copying or typing in the numerical code while pressing down Alt button.

Symbol Code Description
Alt+0153 Trademark
© Alt+0169 Copyright symbol
° Alt+0176 Degree symbol
± Alt+0177 Plus-Minus sign
µ Alt+0181 Micro sign

Hide value

If you leave any number of sections blank, the value of those sections will be hidden. A section should always be separated (defined) by a semicolon (;). Here are some examples,

Raw Value Format Code Formatted Value
1 0;;0; 1
-2 0;;0;
0 0;;0; 0
Some text 0;;0;
1 ;(0);;@
-2 ;(0);;@ (2)
0 ;(0);;@
Some text ;(0);;@ Some Text
1 ;;;
-2 ;;;
0 ;;;
Some text ;;;

Replace zeroes with dashes

Zeroes can make data tables look more complicated than they actually are. You can hide them completely by using the previous method, or replace them with any character of your choice. Dash (-) is a common example. All you need to is place a dash into the ‘Zero section’.

Raw Value Format Code Formatted Value
0 General;-General;»-«;General
3487 General;-General;»-«;»-«
12 #,##0.00;(#,##0.00);»-«;

Start with zeroes

If try to enter a ZIP number that starts with 0, the leading zeroes will be removed automatically by Excel. To keep the leading zeros, use zero (0) placeholder for whole numbers.

Raw Value Format Code Formatted Value
10010 00000 10010
3487 00000 03487
12 00000 00012
0 00000 00000
123456 00000 123456

Dealing with thousands, millions, and more

You may have noticed that ‘0.0’ or other simple formats do not separate thousands or millions. Adding a comma into the code will insert commas to separate numbers.

Raw Value Format Code Formatted Value
1234 #,##0 1,234
123456 #,##0 123,456
12345678 #,##0 12,345,678
123456.789 #,##0 123,457
123456.789 #,##0.0 123,456.8

There must be placeholders for numbers smaller than one thousand, otherwise such values will be hidden. This behavior allows us to round and format our value to show only thousands or millions.

Raw Value Format Code Formatted Value
1234 #, 1
123456 #, 123
12345678 #, 12345
12345678 #,, 12
123456 #.0, K 123.5 K
12345678 #.0,, M 12.3 M

Display numbers as phone numbers

Phone numbers can be hard to read without any separators. Custom Number Format Codes is perfect for this job. The hash (#) character should be your best bet to avoid any redundancy of placeholders (0, ?)

Raw Value Format Code Formatted Value
1234567890 (###) ###-#### (123) 456-7890
12345678900 (###) #### #### (123) 4567 8900
1234567890 (##) #### #### (12) 3456 7890

Showing Month and Weekday Names

Date and time values are stored as numbers in Excel. When you enter a date, Excel automatically converts it into a numerical value, and then formats the cell.

Before jumping into the code, let’s review some basics. Formatting code has special placeholders for date and time formatting that behave a bit differently. For example, while m and mm will show month as a number, mmm and mmmm will show as a text string. Below are some examples.

Raw Value Format Code Formatted Value
4/1/2018 m 4
4/1/2018 mm 04
4/1/2018 mmm Apr
4/1/2018 mmmm April
4/1/2018 mmmmm A
4/1/2018 d 1
4/1/2018 dd 01
4/1/2018 ddd Sun
4/1/2018 dddd Sunday
4/1/2018  11:59:31 PM dddd, mmmm dd, yyyy h:mm AM/PM;@ Sunday, April 01, 2018 11:59 PM

Here is the full list of options for the date 4/1/2018 23:59:31 ,

Format Code Description Example (4/1/2018 23:59:31)
yyyy Displays the year as a four-digit number. 2018
yy Displays the year as a two-digit number. 18
m Displays the month as a number without a leading zero. 4
mm Displays the month with a leading zero. 04
mmm Displays the month as text, as an abbreviation. Apr
mmmm Displays the month as text. April
mmmmm Displays the month as a single character A
d Displays the day as a number, without a leading zero. 1
dd Displays the day as a number, with a leading zero. 01
ddd Displays the day as a day of the week, as an abbreviation. Sun
dddd Displays the day as a day of the week, without abbreviation Sunday
h Displays the hour without a leading zero. 23
hh Displays the hour with a leading zero. 23
[h] Displays elapsed time in hours (to be used when the time value exceeds 24 hours). 1036607
m Displays the minute without a leading zero. 4
mm Displays the minute with a leading zero. 04
[m] Displays elapsed time in minutes (to be used when the time value exceeds 60 minutes). 62196479
s Displays the second without a leading zero. 31
ss with a leading zero. 31
[s] Displays elapsed time in seconds (to be used when the time value exceeds 60 seconds). 3731788771
AM/PM Converts to 12-hour time. Displays either AM/am/A/a or PM/pm/P/p depending on the time of day. PM
am/pm pm
A/P P
a/p p

Come in Colors Everywhere

Number Formatting can be used color sections of a code. A common example is using the color red for negative numbers. Color code must be placed inside square brackets (i.e. [color]), and entered at the beginning of a section. Here are some available colors,

  • [Black]
  • [Blue]
  • [Cyan]
  • [Green]
  • [Magenta]
  • [Red]
  • [White]
  • [Yellow]
Raw Value Format Code Formatted Value
1234.567 [Green]#,##0.00_);[Red](#,##0.00);[Blue]0.00);[Magenta]@ 1,234.57
-1234.567 (1,234.57)
0 0.00
This is a text This is a text

Conditions

Although Excel has conditional formatting menu, basic conditions can be applied through code. Condition should be placed inside square brackets (i.e. [condition]) just like colors. Conditions are similar to the conditions in some functions (i.e. SUMIF). First add a logical operator, and then a value. For example, “[>=1000000]” means “if value of cell is greater than or equal to 1,000,000 apply the following format”. Conditions should come before the actual code, again, just like with colors. If you want to a color as well, the color code should come first.

Another important thing to note here is, that section structure changes from Positive, Negative, Zero, Text to First Condition, Second Condition (if exists), if previous conditions are not applied. There should be at least two sections for conditions.

If you enter only one condition code and then save the format, Excel will automatically add the second section with «;General». This means that if the condition is not met, General format will be used.

Raw Value Format Code Formatted Value
1234567890 [>=1000000]#,##0,,»M»;[>=1000]#,##0,»K»;0 1,235M
12345 12K
1 [=1]0″ apple»;0″ apples» 1 apple
10 10 apples
25 [Green][>=85]»PASSED»;[Blue][>=60]»RE-CHECK»;[Red]»FAILED» FAILED
72 RE-CHECK
91 PASSED

Custom Number Formats in Excel

In Excel, you aren’t limited to using built-in number formats. You can define your own custom number formats to display values as thousands or millions (23K or 95.3M), add leading zeros, display » — » for zero values, make negative values red, add bullets, and much more.

This Article (bookmarks):

  • Watch the Video Overview
  • How to Create a Custom Number Format
  • Number Format Codes
  • Examples
    • Format for Thousands and Millions
    • Display Leading Zeros and Include Commas
    • Display Units Without Converting to Text
    • Special Time Formats
    • Including Special Symbols
    • Displaying Fractions
    • Trailing and Leading Characters to Fill a Cell
    • Chart Axes and Labels
  • Using Color Codes
  • Conditional Operators
  • Custom Location Codes for Dates

Watch the video we created to go along with this article!

How to Create a Custom Number Format

To create a custom number format, it is easiest to begin with a built-in format. Open the Format Cells dialog box by pressing Ctrl+1 (or right-click on a cell and select Format Cells) and select the Number tab (see the image below). Then (1) Choose Custom from the Category list, (2) Select a built-in format similar to what you want, and (3) Edit the format string in the Type field.

Create a Custom Number Format in Excel

Number Format Codes

A number format string uses up to 4 different codes, separated by semicolons, as shown in the image below.

Custom Number Format Syntax

Instead of explaining the syntax in detail at this point, let’s take a look at some examples and learn as we go.

Some of the characters like #, 0, @, etc. have special meanings. Some codes like [Red] can change the font color, and quotes can be used to display text or special characters. The table below summarizes some of these special characters.

Special Characters in Number Formats

Character Description
# A digit placeholder
0 A digit that is to be displayed even if it is zero
, (Comma) Interpreted as a 1000’s marker
@ Represents the value displayed as text
* (Asterisk) Repeats the next character to fill the cell
[ColorCode] See the section below about using color codes
[<=100] Conditional operators (valid only in the Positive and Negative sections)
/ Used for fractions such as # #/12 or as the / character for dates
» « (Quotes) Used to display whatever is contained within the quotes as text, such as 0.00 «feet»
d or dd
ddd
dddd
Day number (0-31 or 00-31)
Abbreviated day of week (Mon, Tue, etc.)
Full day of week (Monday, Tuesday, etc.)
m or mm
mmm
mmmm
mmmmm
Month number (0-12 or 00-12)
Abbreviated month name (Jan, Feb, etc.)
Full month name (January, February, etc.)
First letter of the month (J, F, M, etc.)
y or yy
yyyy
Year (0-99 or 00-99)
Full year (1900-9999)
h or hh
m or mm
s or ss
Hour (0-23 or 00-23)
Minutes (0-59 or 00-59)
Seconds (0-59 or 00-59)

NOTE Some characters are specific to locale/language settings. For example J is used for Year in some countries.

Custom Number Format Examples

The examples below show some of the custom number formats that I’ve found the most useful. This isn’t a comprehensive list of all possible number formats. See support.microsoft.com to search for other articles on this subject.

TIP Using a custom number format only affects the displayed value. A formula that references the cell will use the stored value no matter how it is displayed. This means you can still use a formula to refer to the value even though the number might be displayed as «12 ft.»

To see these examples in action, download the Excel file below.

Download the Example File (CustomNumberFormats.xlsx)

Custom Number Format for Thousands and Millions

Format Code Value Displayed As Description
0,K
0.0,K
0.0, «Thousand»
23543 24K
23.5K
23.5 Thousand
Display values in thousands, using the letter K to indicate thousands. The «K» is just a displayed character — it has no special meaning in the number format string. If you want to display more than one letter, you need to enclose the characters in quotes, like the «Thousand» example.
0,,»M»
0.0,,»M»
0.0,, «Million»
23543000 24M
23.5M
23.5 Million
Display values in millons, using the letter M to indicate millions. Note that in this case, you need two commas.

NOTE These are very useful for chart axes and labels.

Display Leading Zeros and Include Commas

Format Code Value Displayed As Description
000
00000
50.8 051
00051
Display values with leading zeros. This does not convert the value to text — it is only a display format.
#,##0.0 3543.46 3,543.5 Display values using commas to separate thousands, millions, etc. The # sign is used as a placeholder, meaning that if there are no 10’s, 100’s, or 1000’s, don’t display them.

Display Units Without Converting to Text

Format Code Value Displayed As
• Display a number and text in the same cell using the conditions [=1] and [>1]. The value is stored as a number, so you can still do calculations on the number of people.
[=1]# «person»;[>1]# «people»;0 1
5
0
1 person
5 people
0
• Display a number and text in the same cell. The value is stored as a number, so you can still do calculations.
0.0 «ft»
0.0 «kg»
# #/## «in»
2.2
4.5
6.25
2.2 ft
4.5 kg
6 1/4 in
• Display a numeric YYMMDD value in years, months, days.
##»y» ##»m» ##»d» 360712 36y 07m 12d

Special Time Formats

There are quite a few built-in time formats to choose from. The following may be less known.

Format Code Value Displayed As Description
[h]:mm:ss
[h]:mm
[mm]:ss
[ss]
49:03:47 49:03:47
49:03
2943:47
176627
Shows elapsed time in hours, minutes or seconds. Note that time does not round up.
h:mm A/P
h:mm a/p
2:25 PM 2:25 P
2:25 p
Displays time using «a» for AM and «p» for PM. Useful when trying to minimize column widths without making fonts smaller.

Including Special Symbols

Some ascii and unicode characters can be copied and pasted directly into the format code. This can be handy for displaying the degrees symbol for temperatures as well as other tricks like showing up and down arrows or bulleted lists.

Format Code Value Displayed As Description
#.#»°» 98.7 98.7° Display temperature in degrees with the ° symbol.
[Color10]▲0;[Red]▼-0 5
-5
▲5
▼-5
Display special symbols for positive and negative, combined with colors.
;;;»•» @ Eggs
Bacon
• Eggs
• Bacon
Create a bulleted list using a special symbol for the bullet. When you enter text, the bullet will be displayed. Numbers and zero values will not be displayed.

Displaying Fractions

Format Code Value Displayed As Description
# ??/12 5.75
12.5
5 9/12
12 6/12
Display a decimal number of feet as feet and inches (rounded to the nearest inch). Or display a decimal year in terms of years and months.
# ??/100 5.2
5.05
12.81
 5 20/100
 5  5/100
12 81/100
Using ??/100 will help line up values in a column (as opposed to just using ?/100). Note that fractions are automatically rounded.
?/2 5.2 10/2 Displays a simple fraction as numerator/denominator.

Trailing and Leading Characters to Fill a Cell

The asterisk (*) in a format code repeats the following character to fill the width of the cell.

Format Code Value Displayed As Description
— @ *- — ✁ —————- Trailing characters.
*.@ pg 2 ………………pg 2 Leading characters

Custom Number Formats for Chart Axes and Labels

Format Code Value Displayed As Description
0 «AD»;0 «BC» 247
-600
247 AD
600 BC
AD and BC Years. Use negative numbers for BC years and positive numbers for AD years.
mmm{Ctrl+j}yyyy 8/20/18 Aug
2018
Add a Carriage Return within the custom number format (e.g. between dddd and mmm) by pressing Ctrl+j.
[Color10]▲0.0%;[Red]▼-0.0% 15.23%
-23.57%
▲15.2%
▼-23.6%
Display arrows for positive and negative, combined with colors and percentages.

A couple of these examples can be seen in the image below. However, notice that the data labels don’t use color codes, so the percentages are shown only as black text rather than red and green. Too bad. Maybe Microsoft will fix that some day.

Example of Custom Number Formats in Chart Axes and Labels

NOTE Editing a custom number format that contains a carriage return is tricky because you can’t see the second row. This is why I write out the code first using «{Ctrl+j}» or just «{j}» and then delete the «{j}» and press Ctrl+j in its place.

Chart Axis Custom Number Format - Linked to Source

When adding a custom number format using the Format Axis window pane, you may not be able to press Ctrl+j to add a carriage return. In that case, first edit the format of the data source, then click on the Link to Source box as shown in the image to the right. After doing that, you can uncheck the Link to Source box and modify the original data source formatting.

Other Tricks

Format Code Value Displayed As Description
;;; anything Display nothing, regardless of the value.
0.# 2 2. Display a decimal point without a 0 after the decimal (2. instead of 2.0)
???.??? 1.2
12.3
123.456
  1.2  
 12.3  
123.456
Vertically align the decimal point when displaying a column of numbers.

NOTE If you are looking for format codes for phone numbers, social security numbers, or zip codes, look in the Special category within the list of built-in number formats.

Custom Number Format Color Codes

By using color format codes such as [Red] or [Blue] or [Color10], you have a limited ability to alter the color of the font via custom number formats. The most common use I’ve seen is to color negative values red. However, one of the examples above also shows how you might want to use a green arrow.

Even though a new color palette was introduced in Excel 2007, the color codes for custom number formats are still based on the old color palette for the Excel 97-2003 format. I created the graphic below to provide a quick reference.

Custom Number Format Color Codes

I made the above color code reference match the layout of the old color palette because there is not a consistent pattern to the numbering.

Define Your Own Color: You can modify the color palette in newer versions of Excel by going to File > Options > Save > Colors. This allows you to change the color associated with the Color1 through Color56 codes. This means that Color10 might not always be a dark green. If you purposely change the color palette (or somebody else does), Color10 might be some other color.

XLS Color Palette For Custom Number Formats

Excel 2016: File > Options > Save > Colors

NOTE The Color1-56 codes in Google Sheets are fixed colors and aren’t changed when you upload an Excel file with a customized color palette.

Conditional Operators

Conditional operators such as [<100] can be used to change the formatting in cases where positive;negative;0 is not how you want the divisions defined.

For example, the following format will display numbers less than 10 red, numbers between 10 and 20 green, other numbers blue, and text will be displayed based on the cell’s font color: [Red][<10]0.00;[Green][<=20]0.00;[Blue]0.00;@

Examples of Conditional Operators in Custom Number Formats

You are limited to 2 numeric conditions, which you place in the negative and positive sections of the format code.

Another use of conditional operators is to display phone numbers with and without an area code, depending on how many digits are in the phone number like this: [<=9999999]###-####;(###)###-####. This assumes that the phone numbers are entered as numbers and not text values. Meaning, that if you actually enter 123-1234 into a cell in Excel, it will be interpreted as a text value, not a number. The phone number format will display 1234567 to 123-4567 and it will display 1234567890 to (123)456-7890.

Custom Location Codes for Dates

When displaying month names and weekday names for dates, you can use location codes such as [$-fr-CA] at the beginning of the format code to tell Excel to display the names in other languages. To learn what the code is for a specific language and location, use the Format Cells dialog in Excel, choose one of the built-in Date formats, then choose the Locale (location) from the drop-down list. Then you can return to the Format Cells dialog box and click on the Custom tab to see what location code was added.

Format Code Value Displayed As Language/Location
[$-en-US](ddd) mmm d, yyyy 10/1/2018 (Mon) Oct 1, 2018 English (United States)
[$-fr-CA](ddd) mmm d, yyyy 8/1/2018 (mer.) août 1, 2018 French (Canada)
[$-de-DE](ddd) mmm d, yyyy 10/1/2018 (Mo) Okt 1, 2018 German (Germany)

Other Notes About Custom Number Formats

To delete a custom number format, open the Format Cells dialog box, select the custom format from the list, then click Delete. When you delete a custom number format, all values in your workbook that use that format will revert to the General format.

Custom number formats that you create are saved with the file. If you want to use the custom format in a different file, you can copy/paste the formatting from your other file by copying and pasting the formatted cell or using the Format Painter tool.

References

  • Number Formats for Charts by Jon Peltier, Excel MVP
  • Excel Custom Number Format Guide by Mynda Treacy, Excel MVP

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