FORMATING NUMBERS IN EXCEL

 

Adding Number Formatting

Number formatting refers to the addition of currency symbols, decimal markers, percent signs, and other symbols that help to identify the type of data present in a cell and to make that data easier to read.
Excel makes it easy to add number formatting to a worksheet by using icons on the Home tab of the ribbon.
For this tutorial we will add percent signs and currency symbols where needed as well as reducing the number of decimal places for one column of values.

Tutorial Steps:

Adding the Percent Symbol

1. Click on cell C5.


2. Click on the Home tab.


3. Click on the Percent style option on the ribbon.


4. The data in cell C5 should now read as 6%.

Adding the Currency Symbol

1. Drag select cells B8 - F11.
   
   
2. Click on the down arrow next to General option on the ribbon to open the Number Format drop down list.
   
   
3. Select Currency from the list.
   
   
4. The data in cells B8 - F11 should now show the dollar symbol ( $ ) and two decimal places.

Note: The dollar sign symbol ( $ ) on the ribbon is a shortcut to the Accounting Number format which is different from the regular currency format we are using.

Decreasing Decimal Places

Since the currency amounts in cells B8 to B11 are in whole dollar amounts, we can remove the decimal places for this data to make the worksheet less cluttered.
Decreasing decimal places does not change the data it just reduces the number of digits appearing in the worksheet cell.
To alter the data you would need to use one of Excel's rounding functions.

1. Drag select cells B8 to B11.


2. Click twice on the Decrease Decimal icon in the Number format section of the ribbon.


3. The number in these cells should now have currency symbols but no decimal places showing. For example B8 should now read: $45,789