Format in excel to thousands of

Number Formatting feature in Excel allows modifying the appearance of cell values, without changing their actual values. Currency formatting with dollar signs ($), or highlighting negative values with red are common examples. Another advantage of this feature is the ability to add thousands separators without changing the cell values. In this article, we’re going to show you how to format numbers in Excel with thousands separators.

How

Number Formatting is a versatile feature that comes with various predefined format types. You can also create your own structure using a code. If you would like to format numbers in thousands, you need to use thousands separator in the format code with a proper number placeholder. For example; 0, represents any number with the first thousands part hidden.

42,000 will be displayed as 42

Here are some common placeholders:

Below are some examples:

Steps

1. Select the cells you want format.
2. Press Ctrl+1 or right click and choose Format Cells… to open the Format Cells dialog.
3. Go to theNumber tab (it is the default tab if you haven’t opened before).
4. Select Custom in the Category list.
5. Type in #,##0.0, «K» to display 1,500,800 as 1,500.8 K.
6. Click OK to apply formatting.

Check out our detailed article for more information about Number Formatting: Number Formatting in Excel – All You Need to Know

This post will guide you how to format numbers into thousands or millions or billions with Format Cells function in Excel 2013/2016. How do I format large numbers with Thousands or Millions separators in Excel.

For example, number 8000 should be shown as 8 or 8K, 8000000 should be shown as 8 or 8M. and Excel does not provide such option with a single click or way. And you can use number formatting feature to achieve the result.

Excel Number Formatting is a larger feature in Excel, and we have written lots of posts which includes all kinds of number formatting in Excel. Number Formatting allows you to modify the appearance of cell values without changing their real values. Also you can also add Thousands or Millions separators without changing the cell actual values.

In Microsoft Excel, if you want to improve the readability of your data by formatting numbers to show as thousands(k), Millions(M), or Billions(B). The below steps will show you how to format numbers with Thousands or Millions separators to show in a shorter format to read and understand very easily by creating a custom number format.

Firstly, we will show you how to format numbers in thousands by create a custom format with the Format Cells function in your worksheet.

Assuming that you have a list of data with the below set of numbers in cell range A1:A5. And now we need to format these numbers in thousands.

Just do the following steps to change the formatting of the numbers:

Step1: select your numbers in range A1:A5.

Step2: right click on the selected cells that you want to format. and select Format Cells menu from the pop-up menu list. And the Format Cell dialog box will appear. Or you can also press the shortcut key CTRL +1 to open the Format Cells dialog box.

Step3: click Number tab in the Format Cells dialog box, and click the Custom option from the left pane.

Step4: now go to Type: section in the Format Cells dialog box, add the following formatting code to change the formatting of the selected numbers. Click Ok button.

0, "K"

Or

0, “ Thousands”

Step5: your selected numbers will appear in thousands automatically. And the formatting does not change the integrity or truncate your numeric values in any way. And it will apply a cosmetic effect to the number.

If you want to show the exact value, and you can change the formatting code as below:

0.000,”K”

Or

0.000,” Thousands”

Then you will see that the exact values with decimal points should be shown.

Format Numbers in Thousands with Formula

There is another method to format numbers in thousands separator in Excel. And you can create a formula based on concentrate character. You need to divide the number by 1000 and combine the word “Thousands” or character “K” by using concentrate character “&”. Type the following formula in a blank cell:

=A1/1000 & “K”

Or

=A1/1000 & “ Thousand”

Then you can drag the Fill Handle down to other cells to apply this formula.

Format Numbers in Millions

The above steps have shown you how to format numbers in thousands, and the below steps will show you how to format number in Millions. Just do the following steps:

Step1: open the Format Cells dialog box, and click the Custom option.

Step2: add the following format code in the Type: section. The only difference between previous code and this format code is that you need to add one extra comma(,).

0.000,, “M”

Or

0.000,, “ Million”

Step3: the result is as below:

Format Numbers in Billions

In the previous step we have talked that how to format numbers in thousands and millions. And now we will see that how to format numbers in Billions.

You just need to refer to the above steps, and then use another format code to change the formatting of the numbers in Billions.

0.000,,, “B”

Format Numbers in Thousands, Millions, Billions Based on Numbers

If you want to format numbers to show the result based on the cell values. For example, if the cell value is less than 10000, and the result display as 10K, and if the cell value is greater than or equal to 1000000, then the result is displayed in Million. You can add the following format code into Type: section.

[<999950]0.0,"K";[<999950000]0.0,,"M";0.0,,,"B"

You can work in Excel with already rounded data, bearing in mind that the data in such columns represent thousands or millions of units. Moreover, you can specify the rounding unit in the column name. For example:

However, for precise calculations, the data must be in cents. Excel provides a very convenient mechanism for storing data in cents or even smaller values but displaying it in a format convenient for you. For example:

To create a custom format for displaying (not storing!) your data, do the following:

   1.   Select the cell or cell range to round off.

   2.   Do one of the following:

• Right-click on the selection and choose Format Cells… in the popup menu:

  

• On the Home tab, in the Number group, click the dialog box launcher:

  

   3.   In the Format Cells dialog box:

• On the Number tab, in the Category list, select the Custom item.
• In the Type list box:
  • Type #0,»K» or #0,»M» for thousands,
  • Type #0,,»M» or #0,,»MM» for millions,
  • Type #0,,,»B» or #0,,,»MMM» for billions.

  For example:

  

• Click OK.

Notes:

1. Excel displays the details for the type in the Type text box.
2. You can add the currency sign to the cell format.
3. If you want to show one or two digits in the decimal places, you can add them after point:

   

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When you calculate with large numbers in Excel, you might want to only show the values as thousands or millions. 2,000 should be shown as 2. Unfortunately, Excel doesn’t offer such option with a single click. In this article you learn how to display numbers as thousands or millions by creating a custom number format.

In a hurry? Copy this for thousands #,##0,;-#,##0, and this for millions #,##0,,;-#,##0,, and paste it into the custom number format field.

Ways of displaying thousands and millions

There are different ways for achieving your desired number format

The first option would be dividing the results by thousands. This solution is easy to handle, but prone to errors. If you really want to use this method, please check out this article.

A better way is not changing the values, but only displaying them as thousands. Therefore, you have to define a custom number format (the numbers are corresponding with the picture):

1. Select the cells which you want to display in thousands.
2. Open the format cell dialogue by pressing Ctrl + 1 or right-click on the cell and select “Format Cells”. On the “Number” tab, click on “Custom” on the left hand side.
3. For “Type” write: #,##0,;-#,##0, and confirm with OK.
   # and 0 are placeholders for numbers (0 is always shown, no matter if there is a digit to display, whereas # is only shown when there is a number) and , (comma) stands for thousand separators. If you want to add a decimal separator, add a . (dot).

Once you’ve set up your format, you can also use the increase and decrease decimal buttons for displaying more or less digits (4). To display millions, use this code: #,##0,,;-#,##0,, (just one more comma).

You want to know more about custom format codes in Excel? Great – we have summarized everything you need to know here!

Format codes for thousands and millions in Excel

• Thousands number format:

  #,##0,;-#,##0,

• Millions number format:

  #,##0,,;-#,##0,,

• Billions number format:

  #,##0,,,;-#,##0,,,

If you work on a computer with a point as thousands separator: Replace the 3 commas of the billions number format with points.

Revert thousands and millions back to normal numbers

Because this was asked multiple times in the comments, let me quickly show how to revert thousands and millions back to normal numbers. It’s actually quite straight-forward:

• Select the cells you have formatted in thousands and millions and you want to get back to normal numbers.
• Press Ctrl + 1 on the keyboard. The Format Cells window opens.
• Go to the Number tab and select Number on the left-hand side. Define the desired number format.

If this doesn’t work it probably means that the underlying number is

• either not a number (text, e.g.)
• or not in thousands.

If it’s not a numeric value, you’ll probably need to work more on it (please see this article). If it’s just not in k, dividing or multiplying by 1000 might help.

Expert tip: Number formatting with Professor Excel Tools

Another way of quickly formatting number is provided with ‘Professor Excel Tools‘. The Excel add-in offers three buttons for one-click-formatting options:

A: You can either define your favorite number preferences within the settings or use the two pre-formatted buttons. That way, you don’t have to remember any codes but just select your cell ranges and click the button for the desired cell format.

B: Format as thousands with just one click. Select the numbers to format and click this button.

C: Format as thousands with just one click. Select the numbers to format and click this button.

Try ‘Professor Excel Tools‘ for free and get to know all the amazing features. Download it by clicking the button below (no sign-up, no installation).

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This function is included in our Excel Add-In ‘Professor Excel Tools’

(No sign-up, download starts directly)

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Image by Eak K. from Pixabay

Excel custom number format Millions and Thousands

Many times, you might have large numbers in an Excel report and it is hard to decipher and read the number at one glace.

The best way is to show the numbers in Thousands (K) or Millions (M).

Say, a number 45,200,000 will be displayed as 45.2 Million.

In this article, you will learn about how to do Excel format millions & thousands using:

• Custom Formatting
  • With Placeholder Pound Sign (#)
  • With Placeholder Zero (0) & Decimal Point
• Round Function
• Conclusion

Let’s get to each point one-by-one.

Custom Formatting

Fortunately, large numbers in Excel can be formatted so they can be shown in “Thousands” or “Millions”.

By using the Format Cells dialogue box shortcuts CTRL+1, you will need to select CUSTOM and then enter one comma to show Thousands or two commas to show Millions. You can even add some text in your cells by entering any word within the quotation marks ” your word “.

But before we move forward, it is important to know that certain characters in custom formatting have specific meaning.

• Zero (0) – Display insignificant zeros
• Pound Sign (#) – Display significant zeros
• Comma (,) – Thousand separator
• Quote (” “) – Add text present within the quotes

You can create Excel Custom Number Format Millions and Thousands using either placeholder zero or pound sign. Let’s look at both of them one-by-one.

With Placeholder Pound Sign (#)

#,##0, “ths”

#,##0,, “mills”

In the example below, you have sales data with the sales amount mentioned in columns D & E. Using the Excel number formatting, you need to convert excel format number in millions & thousands.

Follow the step-by-step tutorial to understand how to add Excel custom number format millions and thousands and make sure to download this workbook to follow along:

DOWNLOAD WORKBOOK

STEP 1: Select Column D in the data below.

STEP 2: Press Ctrl + 1 to open the Format Cells dialog box.

STEP 3: In the Format Cells dialog box, Under Number Tab select Custom.

STEP 4: Type #,##0, “ths” and Click OK.

STEP 5: This is how the Column D after number formatting will look –

STEP 6: Follow the same steps for Column E as well and type #,##0,, “mills” under the custom section.

The only difference between the two customer format (Thousands & Millions)  is that you have to put 1 comma for Thousands and two commas for Millions.

Using Placeholder Zero (0) & Decimal Point

0.0, “K”

0.0,, “M”

Zero is used to display insignificant zeros when the number has fewer digits than the format represented using zero. For example, a custom format 0.00 will display number 5, 8.5, and 10.99 as 5.00, 8.50, and 10.99 respectively.

Also, you can round off the number using decimal points symbol.

To get this formatting done, follow the steps below:

STEP 1: Select Column D in the data below.

STEP 2: Right-Click and then Select Format Cells.

STEP 3: In the Format Cells dialog box, Under Number Tab select Custom.

STEP 4: In the Type section, type format – 0.0, “K” and click OK.

Follow the same process for formatting Numbers in Millions.

STEP 4: In the type section, Enter 0.0,, “M” and Click OK.

Excel number format millions & thousands is now ready!

One thing to note is that this will just format the way the number looks like on the Sheet. The number stored in the cell remains the same!

You can use the ROUND function to not just change the formatting but the change the number as well.

ROUND Function

In this method, you have to do three things :

• Divide the number by 1000,000.
• Round off the decimal places.
• Use & sign to add text “M”.

In this example, you have the sales amount mentioned in Column D. Let’s use the combination of division, round, and & sign to get the formatting done.

STEP 1: Select cell E7.

STEP 2: Start with the division. Type =D7/1000000.

STEP 3: Add Round Function to this. Type =ROUND(D7/1000000,1).

STEP 4: Add Text to this formula using & sign. Type =ROUND(D7/1000000,1)&” M”.

STEP 5: Copy the formula down.

STEP 6: Copy the Column and the Press Alt + E + S to open the Paste Special Box and Select Value. Click OK.

The only difference between using Custom Format & Round Function is that :

• In Custom Format, only the formatting changes but the number stored remains the same.

• In Round Function, both the formatting and number changes.

Conclusion

In this article, you have been taught how to do Excel custom number format millions and thousands. There are two ways to do so. You can either use custom format options available in Excel or use a combination of division, round, and & sign.

There are various analytical tools inside Excel, like Conditional Formatting, Data Validation, Tables, Sort & Filter plus MORE!  Click here to learn more!

This post is going to show you all the ways you can use to format your large numbers as thousands, millions, or billions.

Large numbers are often used in an Excel spreadsheet, and this can make them difficult to read if they are not formatted properly.

A number in millions or even billions can be difficult to assess and could easily be misread by a factor of 10.

Fortunately, Excel provides several easy ways to format numbers with comma separators to help the user with readability.

If you have ever viewed financial spreadsheets, the numbers are frequently rounded to the nearest thousand because the numbers are often so large. They may even be shown in rounded to the nearest million if the numbers are extremely large.

Not only can displaying numbers as thousands or millions help with readability, but it can also help to fit everything onto a single page.

In this post, I’ll show you 5 easy ways to show your large numbers as thousands or millions. Download the example workbook to follow along!

Use a Simple Formula to Format Numbers as Thousands, Millions, or Billions

An easy way to show numbers in thousands or millions is to use a simple formula to divide the number by a thousand or million.

= B3 / 1000

To get a number in the thousand units you can use the above formula.

Cell B3 contains the original number and this formula will calculate the number of thousands, showing the remainder as a decimal number.

= B2 / 1000000

To get a number in the million units you can use the above formula. Again this will show anything less than a million as a decimal place.

= B2 / 10 ^ 6

One of the problems here might be making sure that you entered the correct number of zeros. This is easy to make a mistake with. A way to get around this is to use the above formula.

The carat character (^) raises the value of 10 to the power of 6, which is 1 million. You can use this same trick when wanting to show values in the billions since 10^9 is equal to 1 billion.

= ROUND ( B3 / 10 ^ 6, 1 )

You could also use the ROUND function to remove any excess decimal points from the result. The above formula will result in only one digit after the decimal place.

Note: You will lose the precision in the numbers by using the ROUND function.

Instead, if you want to keep the precision but only show one decimal place you can change the format.

1. Select the cells which you want to format.
2. Go to the Home tab in the ribbon.
3. Click on the decimal format command to decrease the number of decimal places. You may need to click on this a few times depending on how many decimal places you want to show.

Use Paste Special to Format Numbers as Thousands, Millions, or Billions

This is another way to divide your numbers by a thousand or a million, but without using a formula.

You can use a paste special option to divide a number by a thousand or million.

The disadvantage is that it will overwrite the original number, and the process is a bit more complicated. You might want to store the numbers elsewhere in your spreadsheet before using this technique!

1. Enter the divisor number such as 1000 into another cell.
2. Copy the divisor number (cell D2 in this example) cell by using Ctrl + C or right-clicking on the cell and selecting Copy from the pop-up menu. The cell will have a green dash line around it once it has been copied to the clipboard.

1. Select the cells which you want to divide.
2. Right-click on the large number to be divided, and select Paste Special from the pop-up menu or press Ctrl + Alt + V on your keyboard.

This will open up the Paste Special menu.

1. Select the Divide option found in the Operation section of the Paste Special menu. You may also want to select the Values option under the Paste section so you don’t end up overwriting any formatting you have.
2. Press the OK button.

This will overwrite your large numbers with values that have been divided by 1000.

You can use the exact same process to divide your values by a million, a billion, or whatever value is needed.

Use the TEXT Function to Format Numbers as Thousands, Millions, or Billions

The TEXT function in Excel is extremely useful for formatting both numbers and dates to particular formats.

In this case, you can use it to format your numbers as thousands, millions, or billions. The result will be converted to a text value, so this is not an option you’ll want to use if you need to perform any further calculations with the numbers.

Syntax for the TEXT Function

TEXT ( value, format )

• value is the numerical value you want to format.
• format is a text string that represents the format rule for the output.

The TEXT function takes a number and will return a text value that’s been formatted.

Example with the TEXT Function

In this post, the TEXT function will be used to add comma separators, hide any thousand digits, and add a k to the end to signify the result is in thousands.

In this example, the large number is in cell B3, and the TEXT formula is used in cell C3.

= TEXT ( B3, "#,##0, " ) & "k"

The above formula will show the number from cell B3 as a text value in thousands along with a k to indicate the number is in thousands.

Notice the results are left-aligned? This indicates the results are text values and not numbers.

The hash symbol (#) is used to provide placeholders for the digits of the numbers in the formatting string. The comma symbol (,) is used to provide a divider symbol between the groups of 3 digits.

The zero is included so that should the number be less than 1000, this will show a 0 instead of nothing. If this was just a placeholder (#), then the cell would show nothing instead of a 0 when the number in B3 is less than 1000.

The last comma (,) is needed to indicate that numbers below 1000 will remain hidden as there are no placeholders after this comma.

Note that even when the number in cell B3 is over a million, the placeholders and commas only need to be provided for one group of 3 digits.

The number in cell C3 is far easier to read than the raw number in cell B3.

= TEXT ( B3, "#,##0,, " ) & "M"

Use the above formula if you want to display the numbers in millions.

= TEXT ( B3, "#,##0,,, " ) & "B"

Use the above formula if you want to display the numbers in billions. An extra comma is all that is needed to hide each set of 3 digits in the results and any character(s) can be added to the end as needed.

Use a Custom Format to Show Numbers as Thousands, Millions, or Billions

It is also possible to format your numbers as thousands or millions using a custom number format.

This way you don’t need to alter the original number or use a formula to show the numbers in your desired format.

You also don’t lose any precision in your numbers as they remain intact and only appear differently.

To add a custom format follow these steps.

1. Select the cells for which you want to add custom formatting.

1. Press Ctrl + 1 or right click and choose Format Cells to open the Format Cells dialog box.

1. Go to the Number tab in the Format Cells menu.
2. Select Custom from the Category options.

#,##0, "k"

1. Add the above format string into the Type field.
2. Press the OK button.

#,##0,, "M"

If need to show your numbers in millions, use the above format string in step 5 instead.

#,##0,,, "B"

If you need to show your numbers in billions, you can use the above format string.

As with the TEXT function, the hash (#) symbols act as placeholders for numbers, and the zero ensures that if the number is zero, a zero will still be displayed rather than a blank.

To display any characters at the end of your numbers, you will need to insert them between two double-quote characters.

Below the Type field, you will notice there is a large set of predefined custom formats. You can select any of these and modify them in the same way as the above thousand or millions formats.

This can be an easy way to create a thousand or million format that also allows for negative numbers.

#,##0,, "M";[Red](#,##0,,) "M"

For example, the above will format numbers in millions but also show negative numbers in red with surrounding parentheses.

Any new formats you create will be listed along with all the other predefined custom formats and you can use the Delete button to remove any of the custom formats you have created.

The best thing about using a custom format is you can still do further calculations on the formatted numbers. The original numbers remain unchanged. It’s only the appearance of the numbers that have changed.

Use Conditional Formatting to Format Numbers as Thousands, Millions, or Billions

Can also format numbers according to their value. This can be done by creating a conditional formatting rule for a cell or a range of cells such that the following happens.

• Shows the number as normal if less than 1k
• Shows the number as thousands when between 1k and 1M
• Shows the number as millions when over 1M

Follow these steps to create this conditional format.

1. Select the cell or range of cells that you wish to format.
2. Go to the Home tab in the ribbon.
3. Click on the Conditional Formatting command found in the Styles group.
4. Select New Rule from the options.

1. Select the Format only cells that contain option found under the Select a Rule Type list.

1. Under the Format only cells with settings, select Cell Value and greater than or equal to in the dropdown menus then enter 1000 into the input box.
2. Click on the Format button to choose what formatting will show when the conditions are met.

This will open a lighter version of the Format Cells menu with only a Number, Font, Border, and Fill tab.

1. Go to the Number tab.
2. Select Custom from the Category options available.

#,##0, "k"

1. Enter the above string into the Type section. If you’ve already used this custom formatting elsewhere, you’ll also be able to select it from the predefined options below the Type field.
2. Press the Ok button.

This will close the Format Cells menu and the New Formatting Rule menu will be back in focus. Now you should see a preview of the formatting which will be applied when the formula is true.

1. Press the OK button to close the New Formatting Rule menu and save your new conditional formatting rule.

Now you will see any numbers in your selection appear normal when they are less than 1000 and appear in thousands when they are above 1000.

Now you repeat the above steps to add another conditional formatting rule to take care of numbers that are over 1000000.

The process is the exact same as before with slight changes to the Format only cells with input and the Custom format used.

In step 6 enter the value 1000000 into the input box.

#,##0,, "M"

In step 10 use the above custom format.

Now you will see your numbers appear with a mix of formatting depending on the value. Numbers under 1k appear normal, while numbers over 1k but under 1M are shown in thousands, and numbers over 1M are shown in millions.

For numbers less than 1k the default general format is adequate since there is no need for comma separators.

If you are expecting negative numbers, you will need to repeat the process to add rules for numbers less than or equal to -1000 and less than or equal to -1000000.

Conclusions

There are many ways in Excel to present large numbers to the user.

These all make the numbers easier to read and prevent mistakes from being made when someone is reading a number off of a report.

If the report is large in width, it may be very necessary to show the numbers in thousands, millions, or even billions so that they can fit on the page.

Using custom formatting of numbers and also conditional formatting, there are many ways to highlight specific values of numbers to draw them to the attention of the user.

Do you use any of these tips for showing large numbers in thousands, millions, or billions? Do you know any other methods? Let me know in the comments below!

Microsoft Excel allows its users to store raw data in a well-structured format in a spreadsheet. The spreadsheets consist of numerous cells in the form of rows and columns in which an individual can store data. An Excel spreadsheet can store different types of data such as numbers, characters, strings, dates, date-time, etc. A lot of the time when we store a large amount of data inside an Excel spreadsheet and when we want to look out for a particular entity within that spreadsheet it becomes quite cumbersome to get information about that in a single glance. In order to manage such situations and avoid such scenarios, a user must always think about keeping the records formatted in such a way that it looks easier to the human eyes and conveys much more information in a glance. Suppose, we have an Excel spreadsheet containing data about the net worth of different persons in a city or sales of a particular company as shown in the below image. 

Now, when we give these extremely large raw numbers to any individual, it would be really hard for that person to digest these numbers in one glance. To make it more convenient, we can write these numbers in a particular way like writing the numbers in thousands or millions. If we express Martin’s net worth as 456 K, Miranda’s net worth as 335 K then it becomes much more intuitive and readable to the user.

In this article, we are going to read about how can we format these numbers as thousands and millions in Excel. In this tutorial, we will be formatting the net worth in thousands and company revenue in millions. Microsoft Excel gives its users the power to apply custom formatting using the format cells tool.

Formatting net worth in thousands using the format cells dialog box

Step 1: Select the desired cells that we want to apply the formatting on.

Step 2: Press Ctrl+1 ( command+1 if using macOS) on the keyboard to open the format cells dialog box.

Step 3: Under the Number tab from the left-hand side, in the Category options, select the Custom option.

Step 4: In the Type option, enter #,##0, K, in the Sample, we can preview that the number 456235 will be displayed as 456 K.

Step 5: Now press the OK button to apply the formatting to all the selected cells. The final output will be displayed as shown in the below-given image.

Note: When we click on any of the formatted cells and observe the content in the formula bar original number will be displayed which verifies that only the formatting has been changed and the number has been stored as it is in the backend.

Formatting the company revenue in millions using the format cells dialog box

Step 1: Select the desired cells that we want to apply the formatting on.

Step 2: Press Ctrl+1(command+1 if using macOS) on the keyboard to open the format cells dialog box.

Step 3: Under the Number tab from the left-hand side, in the Category options, select the Custom option.

Step 4: In the Type option, enter #,##0,, “M”, in the Sample, we can preview that the number 253678654 will be displayed as 254 M.

Step 5: Now press the OK button to apply the formatting to all the selected cells. The final output will be displayed as shown in the below-given image.

Note: As seen in the previous case, when we click on any of the formatted cells and observe the content in the formula bar original number will be displayed which verifies that only the formatting has been changed and the number has been stored as it is in the backend.