ft which wouldn’t appear consistent (and is mathematically wrong!). If we chose to use the format #.# “ft”, then the first line would show up as 14. This way, the numbers line up consistently. To fix this, try this format instead:Įxplanation: With Custom number formats, the number 0 indicates a number just like the # symbol, but it means that the digit will always appear, even if the number doesn’t require it. Notice the third value, where the value 12.4 is only displayed as “12 ft”? We’ve lost the decimal place because we didn’t include it in the number format. However, the cells on the right are displayed with the “ft” text at the end because we told Excel to format it in that way. When you look at each of the values of both columns in the formula bar, you will notice that only the value appears. The space between the # and ” symbols is important as well – Excel will add the space (or multiple spaces if you like!) into the format. If you need to present your data in a certain unit of measurement (say, “feet” or “seconds”), you can format your data to display some text after the number in the cell.Įnter the below line into the Type: section of the Custom number format dialog box:Įxplanation: The hashtag symbol (#) indicates a number, and the text inside the quotes is the text that appears afterwards. Let’s start off this list with a fairly simple example. Display numbers as units (or add any text to the start or end of a cell) I’ve scoured the Excel website community to find a lot of these helpful tips, and you can visit their sites directly to find out more as you read through each section.Īnd as an added bonus, at the end of this post is a detailed table listing each of the characters that can be inserted into any Custom number format (#, 0, etc) and explains how each character works.
The rest of this post will get you up to speed with a wide range of situations where the Custom number format can handle. However, if you update your data via the TEXT() function you won’t be able to perform any calculations on the data, since it’s now in Text format. All of the tricks in this guide can be used with TEXT(). If you really want to change your data, you consider creating an additional column, using the TEXT() function to change your original values. It also means that if you’re sharing your work with other people, then the formatting can easily be reset or modified. If you’re in any kind of analytics role where the integrity of your data is important, then this is a great trade-off between good presentation and preserving your raw data. The main benefit is that you can alter the appearance of your data without changing the actual values themselves. Why use the Custom number format at allīut before we dive into the examples, why even bother with the Custom number format anyway? The important thing to realise is that you can create your own completely unique Custom number format instead. They all refer to specific ways that you can format your data in Excel, and by the time you’re finished reading this post, you’ll understand what all of those characters mean.
Whoa – there are a lot of crazy looking characters in that box on the right! Next, in the Number tab, you should see “Custom” in the list of categories on the left: To take advantage of all the good stuff in this guide, you’ll need to find where this magical Custom number format option is.įirst up, hit Ctrl + 1 to open up the Format Cells dialog box. The Custom number format is a flexible formatting option that allows you to create your own specific formatting types. Introducing the Custom Number Format in Excel
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