From number to words in excel

This Excel tutorial explains how to convert number into words (with screenshots and step-by-step instructions).

Question: In Microsoft Excel, how can I convert a numeric value to words? For example, for a value of 1, could the cell show the word «one» instead?

Answer: There is no-built in Excel function that will convert a number into words. Instead, you need to create a custom function to convert the number into words yourself. Let’s explore how.

To see the completed function and how it is used in the example below, download the example spreadsheet.

Download Example

TIP: When you create a custom function in Excel, it will create macro code. When you open your file after creating the custom function, it will warn that there are macros in the spreadsheet. You will need to enable the macros for the function to work properly.

Let’s get started. First, you’ll need to open your Excel spreadsheet and press Alt+F11 to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window. Under the Insert menu, select Module.

This will insert a new module in your spreadsheet called Module1. Paste the following two functions into the new module.

' Example created by techonthenet.com
Function EnglishNumber(ByVal N As Currency) As String

   Const Thousand = 1000@
   Const Million = Thousand * Thousand
   Const Billion = Thousand * Million
   Const Trillion = Thousand * Billion

   If (N = 0@) Then EnglishNumber = "zero": Exit Function

   Dim Buf As String: If (N < 0@) Then Buf = "negative " Else Buf = ""
   Dim Frac As Currency: Frac = Abs(N - Fix(N))
   If (N < 0@ Or Frac <> 0@) Then N = Abs(Fix(N))
   Dim AtLeastOne As Integer: AtLeastOne = N >= 1

   If (N >= Trillion) Then
      Buf = Buf & EnglishNumberDigitGroup(Int(N / Trillion)) & " trillion"
      N = N - Int(N / Trillion) * Trillion
      If (N >= 1@) Then Buf = Buf & " "
   End If

   If (N >= Billion) Then
      Buf = Buf & EnglishNumberDigitGroup(Int(N / Billion)) & " billion"
      N = N - Int(N / Billion) * Billion
      If (N >= 1@) Then Buf = Buf & " "
   End If

   If (N >= Million) Then
      Buf = Buf & EnglishNumberDigitGroup(N  Million) & " million"
      N = N Mod Million
      If (N >= 1@) Then Buf = Buf & " "
   End If

   If (N >= Thousand) Then
      Buf = Buf & EnglishNumberDigitGroup(N  Thousand) & " thousand"
      N = N Mod Thousand
      If (N >= 1@) Then Buf = Buf & " "
   End If

   If (N >= 1@) Then
      Buf = Buf & EnglishNumberDigitGroup(N)
   End If

   EnglishNumber = Buf
End Function

Private Function EnglishNumberDigitGroup(ByVal N As Integer) As String

   Const Hundred = " hundred"
   Const One = "one"
   Const Two = "two"
   Const Three = "three"
   Const Four = "four"
   Const Five = "five"
   Const Six = "six"
   Const Seven = "seven"
   Const Eight = "eight"
   Const Nine = "nine"
   Dim Buf As String: Buf = ""
   Dim Flag As Integer: Flag = False

   Select Case (N  100)
      Case 0: Buf = "": Flag = False
      Case 1: Buf = One & Hundred: Flag = True
      Case 2: Buf = Two & Hundred: Flag = True
      Case 3: Buf = Three & Hundred: Flag = True
      Case 4: Buf = Four & Hundred: Flag = True
      Case 5: Buf = Five & Hundred: Flag = True
      Case 6: Buf = Six & Hundred: Flag = True
      Case 7: Buf = Seven & Hundred: Flag = True
      Case 8: Buf = Eight & Hundred: Flag = True
      Case 9: Buf = Nine & Hundred: Flag = True
   End Select

   If (Flag <> False) Then N = N Mod 100
   If (N > 0) Then
      If (Flag <> False) Then Buf = Buf & " "
   Else
      EnglishNumberDigitGroup = Buf
      Exit Function
   End If

   Select Case (N  10)
      Case 0, 1: Flag = False
      Case 2: Buf = Buf & "twenty": Flag = True
      Case 3: Buf = Buf & "thirty": Flag = True
      Case 4: Buf = Buf & "forty": Flag = True
      Case 5: Buf = Buf & "fifty": Flag = True
      Case 6: Buf = Buf & "sixty": Flag = True
      Case 7: Buf = Buf & "seventy": Flag = True
      Case 8: Buf = Buf & "eighty": Flag = True
      Case 9: Buf = Buf & "ninety": Flag = True
   End Select

   If (Flag <> False) Then N = N Mod 10
   If (N > 0) Then
      If (Flag <> False) Then Buf = Buf & "-"
   Else
      EnglishNumberDigitGroup = Buf
      Exit Function
   End If

   Select Case (N)
      Case 0:
      Case 1: Buf = Buf & One
      Case 2: Buf = Buf & Two
      Case 3: Buf = Buf & Three
      Case 4: Buf = Buf & Four
      Case 5: Buf = Buf & Five
      Case 6: Buf = Buf & Six
      Case 7: Buf = Buf & Seven
      Case 8: Buf = Buf & Eight
      Case 9: Buf = Buf & Nine
      Case 10: Buf = Buf & "ten"
      Case 11: Buf = Buf & "eleven"
      Case 12: Buf = Buf & "twelve"
      Case 13: Buf = Buf & "thirteen"
      Case 14: Buf = Buf & "fourteen"
      Case 15: Buf = Buf & "fifteen"
      Case 16: Buf = Buf & "sixteen"
      Case 17: Buf = Buf & "seventeen"
      Case 18: Buf = Buf & "eighteen"
      Case 19: Buf = Buf & "nineteen"
   End Select

   EnglishNumberDigitGroup = Buf

End Function

Your Excel window should look as follows:

Click the Save button (disk icon) and then go back to your spreadsheet window.

You can now use the EnglishNumber function to convert a number to words. It will work just like any other worksheet function. Just reference the EnglishNumber function in your Excel spreadsheet as follows:

Based on the spreadsheet above, the EnglishNumber function will return the following:

=EnglishNumber(1)
Result: "one"

=EnglishNumber(125)
Result: "one hundred twenty-five"

=EnglishNumber(3278)
Result: "three thousand two hundred seventy-eight"

Convert a number to words

To convert a number to words, the solution was always to create a very complex VBA macro. Some websites, like this one , give you an example of VBA code to do the job. But, if you aren’t familiar with VBA, it could be difficult to integrate this solution in your workbook.

Now with Excel 365 and the new LET function, you can convert a number to words. The formula is very complex and took a long time to develop. But despite this, there are certain points of the formula that must be analyzed before it can be used.

Characteristic of the formula

Before copying the complete formula and applying it to your workbook, it is important to analyze some points of the formula to avoid mistakes.

Principle of arrays in Excel

Excel 365 is the only version that can understand dynamic array (i.e. the result is returned in many cells).

An array ​​is always written between brackets. But in function of the settings of your computer, there could be a difference for the separator.

For example, for a US setting,

• the separator for the rows is the semicolon (;)
• the separator for the columns is the comma (,)

Whatever your local settings, the row separator is always the semi-colon. But for the column separator, there is difference in function of your local settings.

• in France, the column separator is the period (.)
• in Spain, the separator in the backslash ().

Check this setting on your computer before to use this formula

Decimal separator

One of the trick of this formula is to detect the decimal numbers. Decimal number or not, the formula manage the 2 situations.

The trick lies in this part of the formula.

N, SUBSTITUTE(TEXT(A1, REPT(0,9)&».00″ ),».»,»0″)

Without going too deep in the detail of this formula, the decimal separator is mentioned 2 times in this part of the formula

• .00
• and the replacement symbol of the SUBSTITUTE function at the end «.»,»0″.

If you are working with the decimal comma (,), you must replace these 2 periods by commas in the function

N, SUBSTITUTE(TEXT(A1,REPT(0,9)&»,00″ ),»,»,»0″)

Dollars / Cents or nothing

The formula will always added Dollars after the units and Cents in case of decimals.

Denom, {«million», «thousand», «Dollars», «Cents»}

Now, if you do not wish to display the words Dollars and Cents, you simply have to remove these words BUT YOU MUST KEEP the empty quotes to respect the number of occurrences in the matrix.

Denom, {«million», «thousand», «»,»»}

Formula to convert a number to words

Here is the full formula. If it’s not working, change the parameters as it is explain before.

=LET(
Denom, {» Million, «;» Thousand «;» Dollars «;» Cents»},
Nums, {«»,»One»,»Two»,»Three»,»Four»,»Five»,»Six»,»Seven»,»Eight»,» Nine»},
Teens, {«Ten»,»Eleven»,»Twelve»,»Thirteen»,»Fourteen»,»Fifteen»,»Sixteen»,»Seventeen»,»Eighteen»,»Nineteen»},
Tens, {«»,»Ten»,»Twenty»,»Thirty»,»Forty»,»Fifty»,»Sixty»,»Seventy»,»Eighty»,»Ninety»},
grp, {0;1;2;3},
LET(
N, SUBSTITUTE( TEXT( A1, REPT(0,9)&».00″ ),».»,»0″),
H, VALUE( MID( N, 3*grp+1, 1) ), T, VALUE( MID( N, 3*grp+2, 1) ),
U, VALUE( MID( N, 3*grp+3, 1) ),
Htxt, IF( H, INDEX( Nums, H+1 ) & » Hundred «, «» ),
Ttxt, IF( T>1, INDEX( Tens, T+1 ) & IF( U>0, «-«, «» ), » » ),
Utxt, IF( (T+U), IF( T=1, INDEX( Teens, U+1 ), INDEX(Nums, U+1 ) ) ),
CONCAT( IF( H+T+U, Htxt & Ttxt & Utxt & Denom, «» ) )
)
)

This formula has been created by Peter Bartholomew 👏👍

Often you need converting a numeric value into certain language – English (Russian, German, etc.) in Excel. Since by default this program has no ready-made function to make these actions, we will create our custom function using Excel Macros.



Converting a number into text, we need performing three simple steps:

1. Open the ALT + F11 VBA editor.
2. Create a new module and write a function in it in a special way: Use “Function” instead of “Sub” there. In this definite case, the function “SpellCurr” will be exposed in Shift+ F3 function – Category: “User Defined”.



3. Insert the code into the Module and save it there (be very attentive doing it!):




Function SpellCurr(ByVal MyNumber, _
Optional MyCurrency As String = "Rupee", _
Optional MyCurrencyPlace As String = "P", _
Optional MyCurrencyDecimals As String = "Paisa", _
Optional MyCurrencyDecimalsPlace As String = "S")
'***************************************************'
          Dim Rupees, Paisa, Temp
          Dim DecimalPlace, Count
          ReDim Place(9) As String
          Place(2) = " Thousand "
          Place(3) = " Million "
          Place(4) = " Billion "
          Place(5) = " Trillion "
          'String representation of amount.
          MyNumber = Trim(Str(MyNumber))
          'Position of decimal place 0 if none.
          DecimalPlace = InStr(MyNumber, ".")
          ' Convert Paisa and set MyNumber to Rupee amount.
          If DecimalPlace > 0 Then
              Paisa = GetTens(Left(Mid(MyNumber, DecimalPlace + 1) & _
                  "00", 2))
              MyNumber = Trim(Left(MyNumber, DecimalPlace - 1))
          End If
          Count = 1
          Do While MyNumber <> ""
              Temp = GetHundreds(Right(MyNumber, 3))
              If Temp <> "" Then Rupees = Temp & Place(Count) & Rupees
              If Len(MyNumber) > 3 Then
                  MyNumber = Left(MyNumber, Len(MyNumber) - 3)
              Else
                  MyNumber = ""
              End If
              Count = Count + 1
          Loop
            If MyCurrencyPlace = "P" Then
                Select Case Rupees
                    Case ""
                        Rupees = MyCurrency & "s" & " Zero"
                    Case "One"
                        Rupees = MyCurrency & " One"
                    Case Else
                        Rupees = MyCurrency & "s " & Rupees
                End Select
            Else
                Select Case Rupees
                    Case ""
                        Rupees = "Zero " & MyCurrency & "s"
                    Case "One"
                        Rupees = "One " & MyCurrency
                    Case Else
                        Rupees = Rupees & " " & MyCurrency & "s"
                End Select
            End If
          If MyCurrencyDecimalsPlace = "S" Then
                Select Case Paisa
                    Case ""
                        Paisa = " Only"
                    Case "One"
                        Paisa = " and One " & MyCurrencyDecimals & " Only"
                    Case Else
                        Paisa = " and " & Paisa & " " & MyCurrencyDecimals & "s Only"
                End Select
          Else
                Select Case Paisa
                    Case ""
                        Paisa = " Only"
                    Case "One"
                        Paisa = " and " & MyCurrencyDecimals & " One " & " Only"
                    Case Else
                        Paisa = " and " & MyCurrencyDecimals & "s " & Paisa & " Only"
                End Select
          End If
          SpellCurr = Rupees & Paisa
      End Function
      '*******************************************
      ' Converts a number from 100-999 into text *
      '*******************************************
      Function GetHundreds(ByVal MyNumber)
          Dim Result As String
          If Val(MyNumber) = 0 Then Exit Function
          MyNumber = Right("000" & MyNumber, 3)
          ' Convert the hundreds place.
          If Mid(MyNumber, 1, 1) <> "0" Then
              Result = GetDigit(Mid(MyNumber, 1, 1)) & " Hundred "
          End If
          ' Convert the tens and ones place.
          If Mid(MyNumber, 2, 1) <> "0" Then
              Result = Result & GetTens(Mid(MyNumber, 2))
          Else
              Result = Result & GetDigit(Mid(MyNumber, 3))
          End If
          GetHundreds = Result
      End Function
      '*********************************************
      ' Converts a number from 10 to 99 into text. *
      '*********************************************
     Function GetTens(TensText)
          Dim Result As String
          Result = "" ' Null out the temporary function value.
          If Val(Left(TensText, 1)) = 1 Then ' If value between 10-19...
              Select Case Val(TensText)
                  Case 10: Result = "Ten"
                  Case 11: Result = "Eleven"
                  Case 12: Result = "Twelve"
                  Case 13: Result = "Thirteen"
                  Case 14: Result = "Fourteen"
                  Case 15: Result = "Fifteen"
                  Case 16: Result = "Sixteen"
                  Case 17: Result = "Seventeen"
                  Case 18: Result = "Eighteen"
                  Case 19: Result = "Nineteen"
                  Case Else
              End Select
          Else ' If value between 20-99...
              Select Case Val(Left(TensText, 1))
                  Case 2: Result = "Twenty "
                  Case 3: Result = "Thirty "
                  Case 4: Result = "Forty "
                  Case 5: Result = "Fifty "
                  Case 6: Result = "Sixty "
                  Case 7: Result = "Seventy "
                  Case 8: Result = "Eighty "
                  Case 9: Result = "Ninety "
                  Case Else
              End Select
              Result = Result & GetDigit _
                  (Right(TensText, 1)) ' Retrieve ones place.
          End If
          GetTens = Result
      End Function
      '*******************************************
      ' Converts a number from 1 to 9 into text. *
      '*******************************************
      Function GetDigit(Digit)
          Select Case Val(Digit)
              Case 1: GetDigit = "One"
              Case 2: GetDigit = "Two"
              Case 3: GetDigit = "Three"
              Case 4: GetDigit = "Four"
              Case 5: GetDigit = "Five"
              Case 6: GetDigit = "Six"
              Case 7: GetDigit = "Seven"
              Case 8: GetDigit = "Eight"
              Case 9: GetDigit = "Nine"
              Case Else: GetDigit = ""
          End Select
      End Function


In the settings of the function, you can add your own currency:

Download converter number to words in Excel

VBA Macro code converts numbers to words. After inserting this code into the macro editor module, we have a new function available as FX button. Now you can quickly “convert” the sum written in numbers into words. To use the ready-made solution, we recommend downloading the following example working with numbers and words in Excel. This file contains the already prepared user-defined function and the VBA code, available in the module from the editor.

Behold… Pete’s creation!!!!!!!!!!

DON’T RUN AWAY JUST YET!

Don’t worry if this looks a bit intimidating; you don’t need to understand this to use it.  We only need to know how to integrate it into our spreadsheets.

SCROLL DOWN TO DOWNLOAD THE WORKBOOK & CHECK OUT THE POWER QUERY SOLUTION TO THIS (sent to us by our wonderful community)

Let’s look at some examples

This formula is quite complex, having to account for such instances of where it sees values such as “Eleven” (as opposed to “One and One”), “Twenty”, “Thirty”, and weather to say things like “Hundred” versus “Hundred and” something.

The combination of numbers to words can be quite daunting.

Changing the Currency and Decimal Usage

Suppose you need to update this formula to work with US dollars and you don’t require the decimal places.

If you look at the very end of the formula, you will see the portion that is responsible for the decimal places.

&RIGHT(TEXT(B3,"000000000.00"),2)&"/100"

If you do not require decimal places to be displayed, erase this portion of the formula.

For the currency type, change the portion labeled “Euro” to “USD” or “CAD” or whatever currency designation you wish.

Let’s see how that appears after our little formula tweak.

How to apply the formula to many cells

Suppose you have a spreadsheet and you wish to enter a number in cell B4 and have the formula answer appear in the cell directly to the right in cell C4.

We need to make sure that none of the cell references change when copying the formula to a new location.

1. Place your cursor on the cell holding the original formula and press F2 to enable edit mode (or click in the Formula Bar).
2. Select the entire formula by pressing CTRL-A (or manually highlighting the formula. CTRL-A is faster and more accurate.)
3. Press CTRL-C to copy the formula.
4. Press the ESC (Escape) key to back out of edit mode.
5. Switch to the location and cell you wish to use this formula and press F2 to enable edit mode.
6. Press CTRL-V to paste the formula into the new cell.

We’re not quite there yet because all the cell references are pointing to cell B3.  If your data entry cell is in fact cell B3, you are ready to go.  If not, we need to update the cell references to point to the proper data entry location.

Because our original formula was looking at cell B3 for the number and we wish to enter our number in cell B4, we will now perform the following steps to adjust our cell references:

1. Place your cursor on the cell holding the pasted formula and press F2 to enable edit mode (or click in the Formula Bar).
2. Remove the equals sign (=) from the beginning of the formula.
3. Press ENTER. We now have just a massive amount of text in the cell.
4. Press CTRL-H to open the Find/Replace dialog box.
5. In the “Find what:” field, enter “B3” (no double-quotes).
6. In the “Replace with:” field, enter “B4” (no double-quotes).
7. Press the “Replace All” button.

Restore the equals sign to the beginning of the formula from where we removed it earlier in step 2.

Running it through some tests

To test the formula quickly and over multiple iterations, select cell B4 and enter the following formula.

=RANDBETWEEN(1,2000000)

This formula will generate a random number between 1 and 2-million each time the sheet recalculates.

You can force a recalculation by pressing the F9 key on the keyboard or pressing Formulas (tab) -> Calculation (group) -> Calculate Now.

To see several examples simultaneously, select cells B4 and C4 and pull the Fill Series handle down several rows.  This will generate several random numbers and their text counterparts.

Bonus Modification

If you decide to not display the fractional side of the number, the above modification simply removes the fractional values without any rounding operation.

If you would like to round the input to the nearest whole number, implement the following steps:

1. Place your cursor on the cell holding the pasted formula and press F2 to enable edit mode (or click in the Formula Bar).
2. Remove the equals sign (=) from the beginning of the formula.
3. Press ENTER. We now have just a massive amount of text in the cell.
4. Press CTRL-H to open the Find/Replace dialog box.
5. In the “Find what:” field, enter “B3” (no double-quotes).
6. In the “Replace with:” field, enter “ROUND(B3,0)” (no double-quotes).
7. Press the “Replace All” button.

Restore the equals sign to the beginning of the formula from where we removed it earlier in step 2.

Don’t forget to change the B3 reference to whichever cell you are performing the data entry.

Are you curious as to how all this works?

This formula relies on the use of four key functions:

• LEFT
• MID
• TEXT
• CHOOSE

It’s not necessary to dissect every component of the formula, we only need to decipher the first bit highlighted below.

CHOOSE(LEFT(TEXT(B3),"000000000.00"))+1,,"One","Two","Three",
"Four","Five","Six","Seven","Eight","Nine")
&IF(--LEFT(TEXT(B3),"000000000.00"))=0,,IF(AND(--MID(TEXT(B3),"000000000.00"),
2,1)=0,--MID(TEXT(B3),"000000000.00"),3,1)=0)," Hundred"," Hundred and "))

Once we have this portion figured out we’ll be able to figure out the remainder of the formula since it is very much a repeated operation.

The LEFT Function

The purpose of the LEFT function is to extract a specific number of characters from the text starting from the left side.  The structure of the LEFT function is as follows.

=LEFT(text, [num_chars])

The parameter “text” refers to the cell holding the input, while “[num_chars]” indicates the number of characters to extract.  Because the “[num_chars]” parameter is optional, skipping this parameter will result in a default extraction of 1 character.

The MID Function

The purpose of the MID function is to extract a specific number of characters from the text starting from a specific character position (counting from the left side).  The structure of the MID function is as follows.

=MID(text, start_num, num_chars)

The parameter “text” refers to the cell holding the input; the parameter “start_num” indicates the position to begin text extraction (counting from the left side), while “num_chars” indicates the number of characters to extract.

The TEXT Function

The purpose of the TEXT function is to represent a cell’s information with specific formatting.  The structure of the TEXT function is as follows.

=TEXT(value, format_text)

Normally, formatting is applied to a cell through traditional cell formatting controls.

The TEXT function applies formatting (fancy word alert) formulaically. This way, we can change the formatting of information dynamically based on the need of the moment.

EXAMPLE:  Suppose you have a calculation that needs to reflect U.S. Dollars or Euros depending on a country selection.  The formula could look something like the following:

=IF(Country=”USA”, TEXT(Sale, ”$#,##0.00”), TEXT(Sale, “€#,##0.00”))

If the user selects USA (cell A2) , they get the total sales represented by a “$” sign (cell C4) .  If the user selects any other country, the total sales is represented by a “€” symbol.

This function relies on a cell named “Country” (cell A2) where a user may select a country from a Data Validation dropdown list, and a cell named “Sale” (cell A9) that may hold something like a SUM function that adds all the sales together.

In our specific example, the function…

=TEXT(B3,”000000000.00”)

…pads the input number with leading zeroes.  By counting the leading zeroes, the formula will be able to determine if the number is in the hundreds, thousands, or millions.

If a user inputs a number, such as 123456.78, the TEXT function will interpret the number as 000123456.78.  The three leading zeroes indicates a number in the thousands.

The CHOOSE Function

The CHOOSE function is used to simplify multiple nested IF functions that are examining the same data.  CHOOSE is especially useful when working with indexes.

The purpose of the CHOOSE function is to select a value from a built-in list of values based on a supplied number.

=CHOOSE(index_num, value1, [value2], …)

If we were to extract the first (left-most) number from the input number and give it to the following CHOOSE function, what do you think we would get back from the CHOOSE function?

=CHOOSE(LEFT(B3), “One”, “Two”, “Three”, “Four”, “Five”, “Six”, “Seven”, 
“Eight”, “Nine”)

We would see the word version of the extracted number.  “2” would yield “Two”, “5” would yield “Five”, etc…

Putting it All Together

In the formula, we are combining all the functions into a single formula, each function performing their respective parts to accomplish the mission.

CHOOSE(LEFT(TEXT(B3,"000000000.00"))+1,,"One","Two","Three",
"Four","Five","Six","Seven","Eight","Nine")
&IF(--LEFT(TEXT(B3,"000000000.00"))=0,,IF(AND(--MID(TEXT(B3,"000000000.00"),
2,1)=0,--MID(TEXT(B3,"000000000.00"),3,1)=0)," Hundred"," Hundred and "))

First we use the TEXT function to turn the number into a “000000000.00” format.

TEXT(B3,"000000000.00")

Then, we extract the left-most character form the number.

LEFT(TEXT(B3,"000000000.00"))

This will allow us to determine if the returned number is a zero or any other value.  This will indicate weather or not our number is in the “millions” range.

Next, we CHOOSE how to represent the extracted value.

CHOOSE(LEFT(TEXT(B3,"000000000.00"))+1,,"One","Two","Three",
"Four","Five","Six","Seven","Eight","Nine")

We then check to see if the value is a zero.

CHOOSE(LEFT(TEXT(B3,"000000000.00"))+1,,"One","Two","Three",
"Four","Five","Six","Seven","Eight","Nine")
&IF(--LEFT(TEXT(B3,"000000000.00"))=0,,

If the value is a zero, then we are not in the millions so we will display nothing.

If the next two digits are zero, then we will display “Hundred”; otherwise, we will display “Hundred and”.

CHOOSE(LEFT(TEXT(B3,"000000000.00"))+1,,"One","Two","Three","Four",
"Five","Six","Seven","Eight","Nine")
&IF(--LEFT(TEXT(B3,"000000000.00"))=0,,IF(AND(--MID(TEXT(B3,"000000000.00"),
2,1)=0,--MID(TEXT(B3,"000000000.00"),3,1)=0)," Hundred"," Hundred and "))

That’s It!

This formula doesn’t rely on any

• VBA
• CTRL-Shift-Enter Array Formulas, or
• Helper Cells

Thank you, Pete for sharing your formula with the Excel community.  I’m certain many will find your solution both creative and highly useful.

Practice Workbook

Feel free to Download the Workbook HERE.

Many thanks to Jim M. for updating the formula for US syntax, Zafar for updating it for billions as well as text as decimal places!

Also many thanks to Abdul Rahman Mohammed for providing the Qatari Riyals (QAR), Indian Rupees (INR) & Bahraini Dinars (BHD) in both absolute and rounded figures.

The reworked versions are available in the downloadable Workbook.

Power Query Solution!

A Power Query solution of transforming numbers to works was sent to us by Kunle SOPEJU.

Check out his Power Query solution HERE.

Many thanks to Kunle SOPEJU for letting us get creative with Power Query!

Excel is a great tool which can be used for data entry, as a database, and to analyze data and create dashboards and reports.

While most of the in-built features and default settings are meant to be useful and save time for the users, sometimes, you may want to change things a little.

Converting your numbers into text is one such scenario.

In this tutorial, I will show you some easy ways to quickly convert numbers to text in Excel.

Why Convert Numbers to Text in Excel?

When working with numbers in Excel, it’s best to keep these as numbers only. But in some cases, having a number could actually be a problem.

Lets look at a couple of scenarios where having numbers creates issues for the users.

Keeping Leading Zeros

For example, if you enter 001 in a cell in Excel, you will notice that Excel automatically removes the leading zeros (as it thinks these are unnecessary).

While this is not an issue in most cases (as you wouldn’t leading zeros), in case you do need these then one of the solutions is to convert these numbers to text.

This way, you get exactly what you enter.

One common scenario where you might need this is when you’re working with large numbers – such as SSN or employee ids that have leading zeros.

Entering Large Numeric Values

Do you know that you can only enter a numeric value that is 15 digits long in Excel? If you enter a 16 digit long number, it will change the 16th digit to 0.

So if you are working with SSN, account numbers, or any other type of large numbers, there is a possibility that your input data is automatically being changed by Excel.

And what’s even worse is that you don’t get any prompt or error. It just changes the digits to 0 after the 15th digit.

Again, this is something that is taken care of if you convert the number to text.

Changing Numbers to Dates

This one erk a lot of people (including myself).

Try entering 01-01 in Excel and it will automatically change it to date (01 January of the current year).

So if you enter anything that is a valid date format in Excel, it would be converted to a date.

A lot of people reach out to me for this as they want to enter scores in Excel in this format, but end up getting frustrated when they see dates instead.

Again, changing the format of the cell from number to text will help keep the scores as is.

Now, let’s go ahead and have a look at some of the methods you can use to convert numbers to text in Excel.

Convert Numbers to Text in Excel

In this section, I will cover four different ways you can use to convert numbers to text in Excel.

Not all these methods are the same and some would be more suitable than others depending on your situation.

So let’s dive in!

Adding an Apostrophe

If you manually entering data in Excel and you don’t want your numbers to change the format automatically, here is a simple trick:

Add an apostrophe (‘) before the number

So if you want to enter 001, enter ‘001 (where there is an apostrophe before the number).

And don’t worry, the apostrophe is not visible in the cell. You will only see the number.

When you add an apostrophe before a number, it will change it to text and also add a small green triangle at the top left part of the cell (as shown in th image). It’s Exel way to letting you know that the cell has a number that has been converted to text.

When you add an apostrophe before a number, it tells Excel to consider whatever follows as text.

A quick way to visually confirm whether the cells are formatted as text or not is to see whether the numbers align to the left out to the right. When numbers are formatted as text, they align to the right by default (as they alight to the left)

Even if you add an apostrophe before a number in a cell in Excel, you can still use these as numbers in calculations

Similarly, if you want to enter 01-01, adding an apostrophe would make sure that it doesn’t get changed into a date.

Although this technique works in all cases, it is only useful if you’re manually entering a few numbers in Excel. If you enter a lot of data in a specific range of rows/columns, use the next method.

Converting Cell Format to Text

Another way to make sure that any numeric entry in Excel is considered a text value is by changing the format of the cell.

This way, you don’t have to worry about entering an apostrophe every time you manually enter the data.

You can go ahead entering the data just like you usually do, and Excel would make sure that your numbers are not changed.

Here is how to do this:

1. Select the range or rows/column where you would be entering the data
2. Click the Home tab

1. In the Number group, click on the format drop down

1. Select Text from the options that show up

The above steps would change the default formatting of the cells from General to Text.

Now, if you enter any number or any text string in these cells, it would automatically be considered as a text string.

This means that Excel would not automatically change the text you enter (such as truncating the leading zeros or converting entered numbers into dates)

In this example, while I changed the cell formatting first before entering the data, you can also do this with cells that already have data in them.

But remember that if you already had entered numbers that were changed by Excel (such as removing leading zeros or changing text to dates), that won’t come back. You will have to make that data entry again.

Also, keep in mind that cell formatting can change in case you copy and paste some data to these cells. With regular copy-paste, it also copied the formatting from the copied cells. So it’s best to copy and paste values only.

Using the TEXT Function

Excel has an in-built TEXT function that is meant to convert a numeric value to a text value (where you have to specify the format of the text in which you want to get the final result).

This method is useful when you already have a set of numbers and you want to show them in a more readable format or if you want to add some text as suffix or prefix to these numbers.

Suppose you have a set of numbers as shown below, and you want to show all these numbers as five-digit values (which means to add leading zeros to numbers that are less than 5 digits).

While Excel removes any leading zeros in numbers, you can use the below formula to get this:

=TEXT(A2,"00000")

In the above formula, I have used “00000” as the second argument, which tells the formula the format of the output I desire. In this example, 00000 would mean that I need all the numbers to be at least five-digit long.

You can do a lot more with the TEXT function – such as add currency symbol, add prefix or suffix to the numbers, or change the format to have comma or decimals.

Using this method can be useful when you already have the data in Excel and you want to format it in a specific way.

This can also be helpful in saving time when doing manual data entry, where you can quickly enter the data and then use the TEXT function to get it in the desired format.

Using Text to Columns

Another quick way to convert numbers to text in Excel is by using the Text to Columns wizard.

While the purpose of Text to Columns is to split the data into multiple columns, it has a setting that also allows us to quickly select a range of cells and convert all the numbers into text with a few clicks.

Suppose you have a data set is shown below, and you want to convert all the numbers in columns A into text.

Below are the steps to do this:

1. Select the numbers in Column A
2. Click the Data tab

1. Click on the Text to Columns icon in the ribbon. This will open the text to columns wizard this will open the text to column wizard

1. In Step 1 of 3, click the Next button
2. In Step 2 of 3, click the Next button
3. In Step 3 of 3, under the ‘Column data format’ options, select Text

1. Click on Finish

The above steps would instantly convert all these numbers in Column A into text. You notice that the numbers would now be aligned to the right (indicating that the cell content is text).  

There would also be a small green triangle at the top left part of the cell, which is a way Excel informs you that there are numbers that are stored as text.

So these are four easy ways that you can use to quickly convert numbers to text in Excel.

In case you only want this for a few cells where you would be manually entering the data, I suggest you use the apostrophe method. If you need to do data entry for more than a few cells, you can try changing the format of the cells from General to Text.

And in case you already have the numbers in Excel and you want to convert them to text, you can use the TEXT formula method or the Text to Columns method I covered in this tutorial.

I hope you found this tutorial useful.

Other Excel tutorials you may also like:

• Convert Text to Numbers in Excel
• How to Convert Serial Numbers to Dates in Excel
• Convert Date to Text in Excel – Explained with Examples
• How to Convert Formulas to Values in Excel
• Convert Time to Decimal Number in Excel
• How to Convert Inches to MM, CM, or Feet in Excel?
• Convert Scientific Notation to Number or Text in Excel
• Separate Text and Numbers in Excel