number appears as #.#####E+14

[Rob]

I have downloaded a csv from my fedex.com account that has tracking numbers
for packages, but unfortunately it only displays the number in this format
#.#####E+14
It should be a 15 digit number If I click the record, I will see the actual
number in the insert function box. How can I get it to show the whole
number? It's not a width problem because I've widened the column to
accomodate more than 15 char.

 

[Dave Peterson]

Change the format:
Format|cells|Number tab
Number (0 decimal places and no 1000 separator)

 

[Rob]

Thanks, perfect.

 

[joeu2004]

I have downloaded a csv from my fedex.com account that has tracking numbers
for packages, but unfortunately it only displays the number in this format
#.#####E+14
It should be a 15 digit number If I click the record, I will see the actual
number in the insert function box. How can I get it to show the whole
number?

Caveat emptor: Excel can only store the left-most 15 digits
accurately when the string is treated as a number. (Well, the left-
most 14 digits. The 15th digit might be rounded up if there is a 16th
digit greater than 5.) You were fortunate that the account number was
15 digits or less. Normally, account numbers should be stored as text
-- prefixed by an apostrophe (') or put into a cell formatted as Text
before entering the data.

I don't think the latter works at all with a CSV file. As for
prefixing an apostrophe (by editing the CSV file as a TXT file), at
least with Excel 2003, that does disable Excel's auto-interpretation
of the string as a number. But oddly, it leaves the apostrophe
visible in the displayed cell until you select the cell(s) and press
F2 and Enter.

Perhaps an Excel wizard can offer a better alternative.