We use Format Cells to change the formatting of cell number without changing the number itself. We can use Format cells to change the number, alignment, font style, Border style, Fill options and Protection.
We can find this option with right click of the mouse. After right-clicking, pop-up will appear, and then we need to click on Format Cells or we can use shortcut key Ctrl+1 on our keyboard.
Format Cells: — Excel cell format option is used for changing the appearance of number without any changes in number. We can change font, protect the file, etc.
To formatting the cells there are five tabs in Format Cells. By using this, we can change the date style, time style, Alignments, insert the border with different style, protect the cells, etc.
Number Tab:-Excel number format used for changing the formatting of number cells in decimals, providing the desired format, in terms of number, dates, converting into percentage, fractions, etc.
Alignment Tab:-By using this tab, we can align the cell’s text, merge the two cell’s text with each other. If the text is hidden, then by using the wrap text, we can show it properly, and also we can align the text as per the desired direction.
Font Tab: —By using this tab, we can change the font, font color, font style, font size, etc. We can underline the text, can change the font effects, and we can preview also how it would look like.
Border Tab: —By using this tab, we can create colorful border line to different type of styles; if we don’t want to provide the border outline, we can leave it blank.
Fill Tab: —By using this tab, we can fill the cell or range with colors in different types of styles, we can combine two colors, and also we can insert picture in a cell by using Fill option.
Protection Tab: —By using this tab, we can protect cell, range, formula containing cells, sheet, etc.
Let’s take a brief example to understand how we can use Format Cells:-
We have growth rate data with the turnover of various companies. In this data, we can see that headers are not visible properly, dates are not in proper format, turn over amount is in dollar but it’s not showing. Also, growth rate is not showing in %age format.
By using the format cell option, we will format the data in presentable manner.
How to make the viewable header of the report?
- Select the range A3:D3.
- Press the key Ctrl+1.
- Format cell dialog box will open.
- Go to Alignment tab.
- Select the Wrap text option (this option is used to adjust the text within a cell).
- Click on OK.
How to make the border?
- Select the data.
- Press the key Ctrl+1.
- Format cell dialog box will open.
- Go to border option.
- Click on the border line.
- Click on OK.
How to fill the color in header?
- Select the header.
- Press the key Ctrl+1.
- Format cell dialog box will open.
- Go to fill tab and select the color accordingly.
- Click on OK.
- Press the key Ctrl+B to make the header bold.
How to change numbers into currency format?
- Select the turnover column.
- Press the key Ctrl+1.
- Format cell dialog box will open.
- Go to Number tab > Currency > Decimal places 0 and select the $ symbol.
- Click on OK.
How to change numbers formatting into %age format?
- Select the Growth rate column.
- Press the key Ctrl+1.
- Format cell dialog box will open.
- Go to Number tab > Percentage > Decimal places 0.
- Click on OK.
Data before formatting:-
Data after formatting:-
This is the way to use of Format cells in Microsoft Excel.
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In Excel, formatting worksheet (or sheet) data is easier than ever. You can use several fast and simple ways to create professional-looking worksheets that display your data effectively. For example, you can use document themes for a uniform look throughout all of your Excel spreadsheets, styles to apply predefined formats, and other manual formatting features to highlight important data.
A document theme is a predefined set of colors, fonts, and effects (such as line styles and fill effects) that will be available when you format your worksheet data or other items, such as tables, PivotTables, or charts. For a uniform and professional look, a document theme can be applied to all of your Excel workbooks and other Office release documents.
Your company may provide a corporate document theme that you can use, or you can choose from a variety of predefined document themes that are available in Excel. If needed, you can also create your own document theme by changing any or all of the theme colors, fonts, or effects that a document theme is based on.
Before you format the data on your worksheet, you may want to apply the document theme that you want to use, so that the formatting that you apply to your worksheet data can use the colors, fonts, and effects that are determined by that document theme.
For information on how to work with document themes, see Apply or customize a document theme.
A style is a predefined, often theme-based format that you can apply to change the look of data, tables, charts, PivotTables, shapes, or diagrams. If predefined styles don’t meet your needs, you can customize a style. For charts, you can customize a chart style and save it as a chart template that you can use again.
Depending on the data that you want to format, you can use the following styles in Excel:
-
Cell styles To apply several formats in one step, and to ensure that cells have consistent formatting, you can use a cell style. A cell style is a defined set of formatting characteristics, such as fonts and font sizes, number formats, cell borders, and cell shading. To prevent anyone from making changes to specific cells, you can also use a cell style that locks cells.
Excel has several predefined cell styles that you can apply. If needed, you can modify a predefined cell style to create a custom cell style.
Some cell styles are based on the document theme that is applied to the entire workbook. When you switch to another document theme, these cell styles are updated to match the new document theme.
For information on how to work with cell styles, see Apply, create, or remove a cell style.
-
Table styles To quickly add designer-quality, professional formatting to an Excel table, you can apply a predefined or custom table style. When you choose one of the predefined alternate-row styles, Excel maintains the alternating row pattern when you filter, hide, or rearrange rows.
For information on how to work with table styles, see Format an Excel table.
-
PivotTable styles To format a PivotTable, you can quickly apply a predefined or custom PivotTable style. Just like with Excel tables, you can choose a predefined alternate-row style that retains the alternate row pattern when you filter, hide, or rearrange rows.
For information on how to work with PivotTable styles, see Design the layout and format of a PivotTable report.
-
Chart styles You apply a predefined style to your chart. Excel provides a variety of useful predefined chart styles that you can choose from, and you can customize a style further if needed by manually changing the style of individual chart elements. You cannot save a custom chart style, but you can save the entire chart as a chart template that you can use to create a similar chart.
For information on how to work with chart styles, see Change the layout or style of a chart.
To make specific data (such as text or numbers) stand out, you can format the data manually. Manual formatting is not based on the document theme of your workbook unless you choose a theme font or use theme colors — manual formatting stays the same when you change the document theme. You can manually format all of the data in a cell or range at the same time, but you can also use this method to format individual characters.
For information on how to format data manually, see Format text in cells.
To distinguish between different types of information on a worksheet and to make a worksheet easier to scan, you can add borders around cells or ranges. For enhanced visibility and to draw attention to specific data, you can also shade the cells with a solid background color or a specific color pattern.
If you want to add a colorful background to all of your worksheet data, you can also use a picture as a sheet background. However, a sheet background cannot be printed — a background only enhances the onscreen display of your worksheet.
For information on how to use borders and colors, see:
Apply or remove cell borders on a worksheet
Apply or remove cell shading
Add or remove a sheet background
For the optimal display of the data on your worksheet, you may want to reposition the text within a cell. You can change the alignment of the cell contents, use indentation for better spacing, or display the data at a different angle by rotating it.
Rotating data is especially useful when column headings are wider than the data in the column. Instead of creating unnecessarily wide columns or abbreviated labels, you can rotate the column heading text.
For information on how to change the alignment or orientation of data, see Reposition the data in a cell.
If you have already formatted some cells on a worksheet the way that you want, there are several ways to copy just those formats to other cells or ranges.
Clipboard commands
-
Home > Paste > Paste Special > Paste Formatting.
-
Home > Format Painter
.
.Right click command
-
Point your mouse at the edge of selected cells until the pointer changes to a crosshair.
-
Right click and hold, drag the selection to a range, and then release.
-
Select Copy Here as Formats Only.
Tip If you’re using a single-button mouse or trackpad on a Mac, use Control+Click instead of right click.
Range Extension
Data range formats are automatically extended to additional rows when you enter rows at the end of a data range that you have already formatted, and the formats appear in at least three of five preceding rows. The option to extend data range formats and formulas is on by default, but you can turn it on or off by:
-
Newer versions Selecting File > Options > Advanced > Extend date range and formulas (under Editing options).
-
Excel 2007 Selecting Microsoft Office Button
> Excel Options > Advanced > Extend date range and formulas (under Editing options)).
> Excel Options > Advanced > Extend date range and formulas (under Editing options)).Need more help?
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What Is Excel Format Cells?
Formatting cells in Excel is one of the key options used to format the data. We can format data in different formats, such as time, date, currency, font, etc.,
For example, using format cells in excel, we can format time. If the value is 1800 hrs and we want to format it based on hh:mm AM/PM format, we can use the format cells option. As soon as we click format, the 1800 hrs will be formatted into 06:00 PM.
Table of contents
- What Is Excel Format Cells?
- How To Format Cells In Excel?
- Examples
- Important Things To Remember
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Recommended Articles
- Format cells in excel are used to format the data in the worksheet to present well and to save time.
- The tabs available in the Format cells option in excel are number, alignment, font, border, fill, and protection.
- Using the Number tab, we can format values such as date, currency, time, percentage, fraction, scientific notation, accounting number, etc., in excel.
- The shortcut keys to format date (in dd-mm-yy format) are Ctrl+Shift+#.
- Similarly, the shortcut keys to format time in hh:mm AM/PM format is [email protected]
How To Format Cells In Excel?
Formatting cells in excel is really simple. Let us have a look at the following examples to learn how to use format cells in excel.
You can download this Format Cell Excel Template here – Format Cell Excel Template
Examples
Example #1 – Format Date Cell
Excel stores date and time as serial numbers. We need to apply an appropriate format to the cell to see the date and time correctly.
For example, look at the below data.
It looks like a serial number to us, but we get date values when applying date format in excel to these serial numbers.
The date has a wide variety of formats. Below is a list of formats we can apply to dates.
We can apply any formatting codes to see the date, as shown above in the respective format.
- To apply the date format, we must first select the range of cells and press Ctrl + 1 to open the format window. Then, under Custom, we must apply the code as we want to see the date.
Format Cells Shortcut Key
We get the following result.
Example #2 – Format Time Cell
As we said, the date and time are stored as serial numbers in Excel. Now, it is time to see the TIME formatting in excel. For example, look at the numbers below.
The TIME values are varied from 0 to less than 0.99999, so let us apply the time format to see the time. Below are the time format codes we can generally use:
“h:mm:ss”
To apply the time format, we must follow the same steps:
So, we get the following result.
So, the number “0.70192” equals the time of 16:50:46.
If we do not want to see the time in the 24-hour format, we need to apply the time formatting code like the one below.
Now, we will get the result as shown in the below image.
Now, our time is shown as 04:50:46 PM instead of 16:50:46.
Example #3 – Format Date And Time Together
The date and time are together in Excel. We can format both the date and time together in Excel. For example, look at the below data.
Let us apply the date and time format to these cells to see the results. The formatting code is dd-mmm-yyyy hh:mm:ss AM/PM.
We get the following result.
Let us analyze this briefly now.
The first value we had was 43689.6675 for this, we have applied the date and time format as dd-mm-yyyy hh:mm:ss AM/PM, so the result is 12-Aug-2019 04:01:12 PM.
43689 represents data in this number, and the decimal value 0.6675021991 represents time.
Example #4 – Positive And Negative Values
When dealing with numbers, positive and negative values are part of it. To differentiate between these two values by showing them with different colors is the general rule everybody follows. For example, look at the below data.
To apply a number format to these numbers and show negative red values, below is the code.
“#,###;[Red]-#,###”
If we apply this formatting code, we can see the above numbers.
Similarly, showing negative numbers in brackets is also in practice. For example, to show the negative numbers in the bracket and red color, below is the code.
“#,###;[Red](-#,###)”
We get the following result.
Example #5 – Add Suffix Words To Numbers
If we want to add suffix words along with numbers and still be able to do calculations, it is great.
If we show a person’s weight, adding the suffix word KG will add more value to the numbers. Below is the person’s weight in KG.
To show this data with the suffix word KG, apply the below formatting code.
### ” KG”
After applying the code, the weight column looks like as shown below.
Example #6 – Using Format Painter
Format Painter Excel, we can apply one cell format to another. For example, look at the below image.
The date format is DD-MM-YYYY, and the remaining cells are not formatted for the first cell. But, we can apply the format of the first cell to the remaining cells by using a format painter.
We must select the first cell, then go to the Home tab and click on Format Painter.
Now, we must click on the next cell to apply the formatting.
Now again, select the cell and apply the formatting, but this is not the smart way of using a format painter. Instead, double-click on Format Painter by selecting the cell. Once we double-click, we can apply the format to any number of cells, applying all at once.
Important Things To Remember
- The format option is used to format the data in different formats.
- We can format the date and time together.
- The Excel Format Painter is the tool used to copy one cell format to another.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What are format cells in excel?
Format cells is an option used to format the values used in excel.
We can use the format cells option by clicking on
Home → Cells group → Format drop-down option → Format Cells
2. How to format data in excel?
We can format the date with simple steps;
Consider the following example. The date of birth of 3 people is in 3 different formats. Now, let us learn how to format the date such that cell range B2:B4 are in the same format.
The steps used to format date are:
• Step 1: Select cell B2.
• Step 2: Select Home → Cells group → Format drop-down option → Format Cells
• Step 3: The Format Cells tab pops up.
• Step 4: Click Date from the Category under Number tab.
• Step 5: We can select the desired option. In our example, let us select the 4th option.
As we click OK¸ we can see that the value in cell B2 is formatted.
Similarly, we can format cells in excel.
3. What are the shortcut keys to format cells in excel?
The following are some useful shortcut keys to format cells in excel:
• Ctrl+Shift+~ – General Format
• Ctrl+Shift+# – Format Date
• [email protected] – Format Time
Recommended Articles
This article is a guide to Format cells in Excel. Here, we discuss the top 6 tips to format cells, including date, time, date and time together, format painter, etc., examples, and a downloadable Excel template. You may also look at these useful functions in Excel: –
- Shortcut Key to Start New Line in Excel Cell
- Export Excel into PDF File
- How to Format Phone Numbers in Excel?
- Accounting Number Excel Format
This tutorial about cell format types in Excel is an essential part of your learning of Excel and will definitely do a lot of good to you in your future use of this software, as a lot of tasks in Excel sheets are based on cells format, as well as several errors are due to a bad implementation of it.
A good comprehension of the cell format types will build your knowledge on a solid basis to master Excel basics and will considerably save you time and effort when any related issue occurs.
A- Introduction
Excel software formats the cells depending on what type of information they contain.
To update the format of the highlighted cell, go to the “Home” tab of the ribbon and click, in the “Number” group of commands on the “Number Format” drop-down list.
The drop-down list allows the selection to be changed.
Cell formatting options in the “Number Format” drop-down list are:
- General
- Number
- Currency
- Accounting
- Short Date
- Long Date
- Time
- Percentage
- Fraction
- Scientific
- Text
- And the “More Number Formats” option.
Clicking the “More Number Formats” option brings up additional options for formatting cells, including the ability to do special and custom formatting options.
These options are discussed in detail in the below sections.
Cell format types in Excel are: General, Number, Currency, Accounting, Date, Time, Percentage, Fraction, Scientific, Text, Special (Zip Code, Zip Code + 4, Phone Number, Social Security Number), and Custom. You can get them from the “Number Format” drop-down list in the “Home” tab, or from the launcher arrow below it.
I will detail each one of them in the following sections:
1- General format
By default, cells are formatted as “General”, which could store any type of information. The General format means that no specific format is applied to the selected cell.
When information is typed into a cell, the cell format may change automatically. For example, if I enter “4/4/19” into a cell and press enter, then highlight the cell to view details about it, the cell format will be listed as “Date” instead of “General”.
Similarly, we can update a cell’s format before or after entering data to adjust the way the data appears. Changing the format of a cell to “Currency” will make it so information entered is displayed as a dollar amount.
Typing a number into this cell and pressing enter will not just show that number, but will instead format it accordingly.
Before pressing enter, Excel shows the value which was typed: “4”.
After pressing enter, the value is updated based on the formatting type selected.
Don’t let the format type showed in the illustration at the drop-down list confusing you; it is reflecting the cell below (i.e. E4), since we validated by an Enter.
2- Number format
Cells formatted as numbers behave differently than general formatted cells. By default, when a number is entered, or when a cell is formatted as a number already, the alignment of the information within the cell will be on the right instead of on the left. This makes it easier to read a list of numbers such as the below.
Note in the above screenshot that since we didn’t choose the “Number” format for our cells, they still have a “General” one. They are numbers for Excel (meaning, we can do calculations on them), but they didn’t have yet the number format and its formatting aspects:
You can set the formatting options for Excel numbers in the “Format Cells” dialog box.
To do that, select the cell or the range of cells you want to set the formatting options for their numbers, and go to the “Home” tab of the ribbon, then in the “Number” group of commands, click on the launcher of the dialog box (the arrow on the right-down side of the group).
Excel opens the “Format Cells” dialog box in its “Number” tab. Click in the “Category” pane on “Number”.
- In this dialog box, you can decide how many decimal places to display by updating options in the “Decimal places” field.
Note that this feature is also available in the “Home” tab of the ribbon where you can go to the “Number” group of commands and click the Increase Decimal 
or Decrease Decimal 
buttons.
Here is the result of consecutive increasing of decimal places on our example of data (1 decimal; 2 decimals; and 3 decimals):
- You can also decide if commas should be shown in the display as a thousand separator, by updating the “Use 1000 Separator (,)” option in the “Format Cells” dialog box.
This feature is also available in the “Home” tab of the ribbon by clicking the “Comma Style” button 
in the “Number” group of commands.
Note that using the Comma Style button will automatically set the format to Accounting.
- Another option from the Format Cells dialog box is to decide how negative numbers should display by using the “Negative numbers” field.
There are four options for displaying negative
numbers.
- Display
negative numbers with a negative sign before the number. - Display
negative numbers in red. - Display
negative numbers in parentheses. - Display
negative numbers in red and in parentheses.
3- Currency format
Cells formatted as currency have a currency symbol such as a dollar sign $ immediately to the left of the number in the cell, and contain two numbers after the decimal by default.
The alignment of numbers in currency formatted cells will be on the right for readability.
Currency formatting options are similar to
number formatting options, apart from the currency symbol display.
- As with regular number formatting, you can decide, in the “Format Cells” dialog box, how many decimal places to display by updating the field “Decimal places”.
You can also find this feature in the “Home” tab of the ribbon, by going to the “Number” group of commands and clicking the Increase Decimal or Decrease Decimal .
- You can also decide what currency symbol should be shown in the display by updating the “Symbol” field in the “Format Cells” dialog box.
- As with regular number formatting, you can also decide how negative numbers should display by updating the “Negative numbers” field in the “Format Cells” dialog box.
There are four
options for displaying negative numbers.
- Display
negative numbers with a negative sign before the number. - Display
negative numbers in red. - Display
negative numbers in parentheses. - Display
negative numbers in red and in parentheses.
4- Accounting format
Like with the currency format, cells formatted as accounting have a currency symbol such as a dollar sign $; however, this symbol is to the far left of the cell, while the alignment of numbers in the cell is on the right. Accounting numbers contain two numbers after the decimal by default.
Clicking the “Accounting Number Format” button 
in the “Number” group of commands of the “Home” tab, will quickly format a cell or cells as Accounting.
The down arrow to the right of the Accounting Number Format button allows selection between common symbols used for accounting, including English (dollar sign), English (pound), Euro, Chinese, and French symbols.
Accounting formatting options in the “Format Cells” dialog box (“Home” tab of the ribbon, in the “Number” group of commands, click on the launcher of the “Number Format” dialog box), are similar to number and currency formatting options.
- You can decide how many decimal places to display by updating its option in the “Format Cells” dialog box.
As mentioned before in this tutorial, this feature is also available directly in the “Home” tab of the ribbon by clicking the Increase Decimal or Decrease Decimal buttons in the “Number” group of commands.
- You can also decide in the “Format Cells” dialog box, what currency symbol should be shown in the display by using the “Symbol” drop-down list.
This dropdown gives a much broader list of options than the “Accounting Number Format” option in the “Home” tab of the ribbon.
Note that with the Accounting formatting option, negative numbers display in parentheses by default. There are not options to change this.
5- Date format
There are options for “Short Date” and “Long Date” in the “Number Format” dropdown list of the “Home” tab.
Short date shows the date with slashes separating month, day, and year. The order of the month and day may vary depending on your computer’s location settings.
Long date shows the date with the day of the week, month, day, and year separated by commas.
More options for formatting dates are available in the “Format Cells” dialog box (accessible by clicking in the “Number Format” dropdown list of the “Home” tab and choosing the “More Number Formats” option at the bottom).
- You can choose from a long list of available date formats.
- You can update the location settings used for formatting the date. This will alter the list of format options in the above list and will adjust the display and potentially the order of the elements (day, month, year) within the date.
Note the below example when we switch from English (United States) format to English (United Kingdom) format.
6- Time format
Cells formatted as time display the time of
day. The default time display is based on your computer’s location settings.
Time formatting options are available in the “Format Cells” dialog box (accessible by choosing the “More Number Formats” option at the bottom of the “Number Format” dropdown list in the “Home” tab of the ribbon).
- You can choose from a long list of available time formats.
- You can update the location settings used for formatting the time. This will alter the list of format options in the above list and will adjust the display.
7- Percentage format
Cells formatted as percentage display a percent sign to the right of the number. You can change the format of a cell to a percentage using the “Number Format” dropdown list, or by clicking the “Percent Style” button 
. Both options are accessible from the “Home” tab of the ribbon, in the “Number” group of commands.
Note that updating a number to a percentage
will expect that the number already contains the decimal. For example:
A cell containing the value 0.08, as a percentage, will show 8%.
A cell containing the value 8, as a percentage, will show 800%.
Percentage formatting options are available in the “Format Cells” dialog box, accessible by clicking on “More Number Formats” of the “Number Format” dropdown list in the “Home” tab of the ribbon.
8- Fraction format
Cells formatted as a fraction display with a slash
symbol separating the numerator and denominator.
Fraction formatting options are available in the “Format Cells” dialog box, accessible by clicking in the “Home” tab of the ribbon, on “More Number Formats” of the “Number Format” dropdown list.
- Note that
when selecting the format to use for a fraction, Excel will round to the
nearest fraction where the formatting criteria can be met.
As an example, if the
formatting option selected is “Up to one digit”, entering a fraction with two
digits will cause rounding to occur. For example, with the setting of “Up to
one digit”,
If we enter a value of 7/16, the value displayed will be 4/9, as converting to 9ths was the option with only one digit which required the least amount of rounding.
For another example, if the formatting option selected is “As quarters”, entering a fraction that cannot be expressed in quarters (divisible by four) will also cause rounding to occur.
If we enter a value of 5/8, the value displayed will be 3/4. Excel rounded up to 6/8, or 3/4, which was the closest option divisible by four.
- Also note
that for the formatting options with “Up to x digits”, Excel will always round
down to the lowest exact equivalent fraction when possible.
For example, if we enter a value of 2/4 with one of these formatting options active, the value displayed will be 1/2, as this is the mathematical equivalent. This behavior will not take place for formatting options “As…”, since these specifically determine what the denominator should be.
- Fractions listed as more than a whole (meaning the numerator is a higher number than the denominator), such as 7/4 will automatically be adjusted into a whole number and a fraction 13/4, where the fraction follows the formatting rules selected.
9- Scientific format
Scientific format, otherwise known as
Exponential Notation, allows very large and small numbers to be accurately
represented within a cell, even when the size of the cell cannot accommodate
the size of the numbers.
The way exponential notation works is to theoretically place a decimal in a spot that would make the number shorter, then describe where to move that decimal to return to the original number.
Examples with large numbers, where the decimal is moved to the left:
For the number 300 to be expressed in
exponential notation, Excel moves the decimal from after the whole number
300.00 to between the 3 and the 00. This is typed out as E+02 since the decimal
was moved two places to the left. The other examples are similar, where the
decimal was moved 6 and 12 places to the left.
Examples with small numbers, where the decimal is moved to the right:
For the number 0.2 to be expressed in
exponential notation, Excel moves the decimal to create a whole number 2. This
is typed out as E-01 since the decimal was moved one place to the right. The
other examples are similar, where the decimal was moved 4 and 10 places to the
right.
Scientific formatting options are listed in the “Format Cells” dialog box, accessible by going to the “Home” tab of the ribbon, and clicking the “More Number Formats” option of the “Number Format” dropdown list.
The only option available is to alter the
number of decimal places shown in the number prior to the scientific notation.
For example, for the value 11.43 formatted with the scientific format, if we change the Decimal places from 2 to 1, the display will change as follows.
Two decimals: 
One decimal: 
10- Text format
Cells can be formatted as Text through the
“Number Format” dropdown list, in the “Number” group of commands of the “Home”
tab.
Using the Text format in Excel allows values to be entered as they are, without Excel changing them per the above formatting rules.
In general, when entering a text in a cell, you won’t need to set its type to “Text”, as the default format type “General” is sufficient in most cases.
This may be useful when you want to display numbers with leading zeros, want to have spaces before or after numbers or letters, or when you want to display symbols that Excel normally uses for formulas.
Below are examples of some fields formatted as Text.
Note that when a number is formatted as Text, Excel will display a symbol showing that there could be a possible error 
.
Clicking the cell, then clicking the pop-up icon will show what the error may be and offer suggestions for resolution.
11- Special format
Special format offers four options in the “Format Cells” dialog box, accessible by going to the “Home” tab of the ribbon, and clicking the launcher arrow in the “Number” group of commands.
- Zip Code
When less than five numbers are entered in Zip
Code format, leading zeros will be added to bring the total to five numbers.
When more than five numbers are entered in Zip Code format, all numbers will be displayed, even though this does not meet the format criteria.
- Zip Code + 4
Zip Code + 4 format automatically creates a
dash symbol – before the last four numbers in the zip code.
When less than nine numbers are entered in Zip
Code + 4 format, leading zeros will be added to bring the total to nine
numbers.
When more than nine numbers are entered in Zip Code + 4 format, extra numbers are displayed prior to the dash symbol –.
- Phone Number
Phone Number format automatically creates a
dash –
before the last four numbers in the phone number. This format also adds
parentheses ( ) around the area code when an area code is entered.
When less than the expected number of digits
are entered in Phone Number format, only the entered digits will be displayed,
starting from the end of the phone number, as shown on the third and fourth
lines, below.
When more than the expected number of digits
are entered in Phone Number format, extra numbers are displayed within the area
code parentheses.
Note that Phone Number format in Excel does not handle the number 1 before an area code. This entry would be treated like any other extra number.
- Social Security Number
Social Security Number format automatically
creates a dash – before the last four numbers in the social security number
and a dash before the last six numbers in the social security number.
When less than nine numbers are entered in
Social Security Number format, leading zeros will be added to bring the total
to nine numbers.
When more than nine numbers are entered in Social Security Number format, extra numbers are displayed prior to the first dash –.
12- Custom format
Custom formats can be used or added through the
“Format Cells” dialog box, accessible from the “Number” group of commands in
the “Home” tab of the ribbon by clicking the “Number Format” launcher arrow.
This can be useful if the above formatting options do not work for your needs. Custom number formats can be created or updated by typing into the “Type” field of the “Format Cells” dialog box.
When creating a new custom format, be sure to use an existing custom format that you are okay with changing.
Custom number formats are separated, at
maximum, into four parts separated by semicolons ; .
- Part 1: How
to handle positive number values - Part 2: How
to handle negative number values - Part 3: How
to handle zero number values - Part 4: How
to handle text values
Note that if fewer parts are included in the custom format coding, Excel will determine how best to merge the above options: As an example, if two parts are listed, positive and zero values will be grouped.
Note that Excel may update the formatting of some fields to Custom automatically depending on what actions are taken on the field.
C- Common issues caused by wrong cell format types in Excel
1- Common issues due to wrong cell format types in Excel
The most common problems you may encounter with a wrong cell format type in Excel are of 3 types:
– Getting a wrong value.
– Getting an error.
– Formula displayed as-is and not calculated.
Let’s illustrate these 3 cases with some examples:
- Getting a wrong value
This may occur when you enter a value in an already formatted cell with an inappropriate format type, or when you apply a different format to a cell already containing a value.
The following table details some examples:
- Getting an error
This occurs when you enter a text preceded with a symbol of a dash, or plus, or equal, as an element of a list.
Excel wrongly interprets the text as a formula and show the error “The formula contains unrecognized text”.
- Formula displayed as-is and not calculated
In the following example, we tried to calculate the total of prices from cell B2 to B6 using the Excel SUM function, but Excel doesn’t calculate our formula and just displayed it as-is.
The source of the problem is that the result cell, B7, was previously formatted as text before entering the formula.
2- How to correct wrong cell format type issues in Excel
To correct cell format type issues in Excel, apply the right format in the “Number Format” drop-down list, and sometimes, you’ll also need to re-enter the content of the cell. For cells with formulas displayed as text, choose the “General” format, then double click in the cell and press Enter.
Jeff Golden is an experienced IT specialist and web publisher that has worked in the IT industry since 2010, with a focus on Office applications.
On this website, Jeff shares his insights and expertise on the different Office applications, especially Word and Excel.
Definition of Format Cells
A format in excel can be defined as the change of appearance of the data in the cell the way it is, without changing the actual data or numbers in the cells. That means the data in the cell remains the same, but we will change the way it looks.
Different Formats in Excel
We have multiple formats in Excel to use. To see the available formats in excel, click on the “Home” menu on the top left corner.
General Format
In General format, there is no specific format; whatever you input, it will appear in the same way; it may be a number or text or symbol. After clicking on the HOME menu, go to the “NUMBER” segment, where you can find a drop of formats.
Click on the drop-down where you see the “General” option.
We will discuss each of these formats one by one with related examples.
1. Number Format
This format converts the data to a number format. When we input the data initially, it will be in General format; after converting to Number format only, it will appear as number format. Observe the below screenshot for the number in General format.
Now choose the format “Number” from the drop-down list and see how the appearance of cell A1 changes.
That is a difference between the General and Number format. If you want further customizations to your number format, select the cell that you want to do customization and right-click the below menu will come.
Choose the “Format Cells“ option then you will get the below window.
Choose “Number” under the “Category” option then you will get the customizations for the Number format. Choose the number of decimals you want to display. Tick the checkbox “Use 1000 separator” for separation of 1000’s with a comma (,).
Choose the negative number format whether you want to display with a negative symbol, brackets, red colour, nd red col, etc.
2. Currency Format
Currency format helps to convert the data to a currency format. We have an option to choose the type of currency as per our requirement. Select the cell which you want to convert to Currency format and choose the “Currency” option from the drop-down.
Currently, it is in Dollar currency. We can change by clicking on the drop-down of “$” and choose your required currency.
In the drop-down, we have few currencies; if you want the other currencies, click on the option “More Accounting formats”, which will display a pop-up menu as below.
Click on the drop-down “Symbol” and choose the required currency format.
3. Accounting Format
As you all know, accounting numbers are all related to money; hence whenever we convert any number to accounting format, it will add a currency symbol to that. The difference between currency and accounting is currency symbol alignment. Below are the screenshots for reference.
4. Accounting Alignment
5. Currency Alignment
6. Short Date Format
A date can represent in a short format and long format. When you want to represent your date in a short format, use the short date format. E.g., 1/1/2019.
7. Long Date Format
The long date is used to represent our date in an expandable format like the below screenshot.
We see the short date format and long date format have multiple formats to represent our dates. Right-click and select “Format Cells” as to how we did before for “numbers”, then we will get the window to select the required formats.
You can choose the location from the “Locale” drop-down menu.
Choose the date format under the “Type” menu.
We can represent our date in any of the formats from the available formats.
8. Time Format
This format is used to represent the time. If you input time without converting the cell into time format, it will show normally, but if you convert the cell into time format and input, it will clearly represent the time. Find the below screenshot for the differences.
If you still want to change the time format, then change in the format cells menu as shown below.
9. Percentage Format
Suppose you want to represent the number percentage use this format. Input any number in the cell and select that cell and choose the percentage format then the number will convert into a percentage.
10. Fraction Format
When we input the fraction numbers like 1/5, we should convert the cells into Fraction format. If we input the same 1/5 in a normal cell, it will show as a date.
This is how the fraction format works.
11. Text Format
When you input the number and convert it to text format, the number will align to the left side. It will consider as text as only, not the number.
12. Scientific Format
When you input a number 10000 (Ten thousand) and convert it into a scientific format, it will display as 1E+04, here E means exponent and 04 represents the number of zeros. If we input the number 0.0003, it will display as 3E-04. Try different numbers in excel format and check you will get a better idea to understand this better.
13. Other Formats
Apart from the explained formats, we have other formats like Alignment, Font, Border, Fill, and Protection.
Most of them are self-explanatory; hence I am leaving and explaining protection alone. When you want to lock any cells in the spreadsheet, use this option. But this lock will enable only when you protect the sheet.
You can hide and lock the cells on the same screen; Excel has provided instructions on when it will affect.
Things to Remember About Format Cells in Excel
- One can apply formats by right-clicking and selecting the format cells or from the drop-down as explained initially. The impact of them is the same; however, you will have multiple options when you right-click.
- When you want to apply a format to another cell, use format painter, select the cell, click on formatted painters, and choose the cell you want to apply.
- Use the option “Custom” when you want to create your own formats as per requirement.
Recommended Articles
This is a guide to Format Cells in Excel. Here we discuss how to format cells in excel along with practical examples and a downloadable excel template. You can also go through our other suggested articles to learn more–
- Excel Conditional Formatting for Dates
- Auto Format in Excel
- Formatting Text in Excel
- Excel Format Phone Numbers