Joe,
If you need to do this to a large list of numbers there is a fairly quick way.
1) In an empty cell type a 1.
2) Copy this cell.
3) Select the range with the numbers you want to convert. This range can include any actual numbers and text, they won't be efected by this operation.
4) Go to Edit>Paste_Special and choose Operation>Multiply.
This will multiply all of the items in your range by 1, and Excel will convert any text numbers to number numbers.
Good Luck,
Mark Graesser
(e-mail address removed)
----- Joe wrote: -----
Is it possible to change a text string that represents a number i.e. "18" to the it's numeric equivalent i.e the number 18, as part of a function or formula?