Formatting Numbers
Number formatting refers to the process of changing the appearance of values contained in cells. Excel provides a wide variety of number formatting options.
Values that you enter into cells are unformatted. They are simply a string of numerals. Your goal, of course is to format the numbers so they’re easier to read or are more consistent in terms of the decimal places shown.
Formatting Methods: There are two important ways to format data in cells.
Number formatting refers to the process of changing the appearance of values contained in cells. Excel provides a wide variety of number formatting options.
Values that you enter into cells are unformatted. They are simply a string of numerals. Your goal, of course is to format the numbers so they’re easier to read or are more consistent in terms of the decimal places shown.
Formatting Methods: There are two important ways to format data in cells.
- You can format cells using the Ribbon, Font and Number sections. We will focus on this method for this course.
- You can format cells using the Format Cells dialog box, which is more comprehensive.
Practice Exercise 11: Formatting Numbers
STEP 7: Make cell A5 active.
Enter into the cell $1000 Go to the Ribbon Number section and change the window to show “Accounting” by clicking on window arrowhead. Notice how the $ sign has moved over to the far left (FIGURE 9). Accounting formatting ensures that the $ sign and the decimal points will line up with numbers similarly formatted. |
FIGURE 9
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Section completed. Go to Module 5 Section 5.3 Practice Exercise 12; Saving Your Workbook