numbers are not numbers in excel xp

P

Paul Mars

I m sure this is obvious question, but I have been fighting long enough.

On excel xp, after choosing a group of cells, columns, or rows then
Format~Cells~category~NUMBER.

then each number added to each cell, it says number in cell is formatted as
text, bla bla and I need to click 2 times to convert it. Each and every
number that I enter in a cell needs me to do this before I can do my math.
Pre xp, it was not like this. Why and how can I really truly set a group of
cells to number?

Tks,
paul
 
D

Dave Peterson

Just formatting the cells as Numbers (or currency or General or anything else)
won't change the value in the cell.

Try this in a different cell:

=count(A1:A100)
(use your range's address)

This counts the number of cells that contain numbers--it will not include the
cells that are text, but looks like numbers.

If you get something you don't expect (like 0), then one way to fix this is to:

select an empty cell
edit|copy
select your range to fix
edit|paste special|Add

Your text numbers will be converted to number numbers.

Apply the formatting that you like to make it look pretty.

===
And excel's behavior hasn't changed.
 
R

Ron Rosenfeld

I m sure this is obvious question, but I have been fighting long enough.

On excel xp, after choosing a group of cells, columns, or rows then
Format~Cells~category~NUMBER.

then each number added to each cell, it says number in cell is formatted as
text, bla bla and I need to click 2 times to convert it. Each and every
number that I enter in a cell needs me to do this before I can do my math.
Pre xp, it was not like this. Why and how can I really truly set a group of
cells to number?

Tks,
paul

How are you entering the numbers after you format the cells as NUMBER?

Are you typing them in from the keyboard, or pasting them in from some other
source?
--ron
 
P

Paul Mars

typed as number in fields formatted at number, then one by one (usually as I
enter them) I convert each cells contents to number. Next month when I
change the numbers, they are again formatted as text and my calcs do not
work, so i convert them again.
 
P

Paul Mars

well, it never did this before. Tks,

Dave Peterson said:
Just formatting the cells as Numbers (or currency or General or anything
else)
won't change the value in the cell.

Try this in a different cell:

=count(A1:A100)
(use your range's address)

This counts the number of cells that contain numbers--it will not include
the
cells that are text, but looks like numbers.

If you get something you don't expect (like 0), then one way to fix this
is to:

select an empty cell
edit|copy
select your range to fix
edit|paste special|Add

Your text numbers will be converted to number numbers.

Apply the formatting that you like to make it look pretty.

===
And excel's behavior hasn't changed.
 
R

Ron Rosenfeld

typed as number in fields formatted at number, then one by one (usually as I
enter them) I convert each cells contents to number. Next month when I
change the numbers, they are again formatted as text and my calcs do not
work, so i convert them again.

That's very odd.

If the cell is formatted as a number, and you type in a number from the
keyboard, it should be a number and stay a number.

Can you email me a copy of the worksheet that is demonstrating this aberrant
behavior? If you can, reverse the following and then make the obvious
substitution. moc.enilnodlefnesorTAnor

If I get it this evening, I'll take a look at it. Otherwise, I won't be able
to look at it until next week.




--ron
 

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