
To fix numbers formatted as text with Paste Special, here's what you do: For example, if you apply the Text format to a cell, enter a number, and then change the cell format to Number, the cell will remain formatted as text.Ĭompared to the previous techniques, this method of converting text to number requires a few more steps, but works almost 100% of time. This method does not work in some scenarios. On the Home tab, in the Number group, choose General or Number from the Number Format drop-down list.Select the cells with text-formatted numbers.Click the warning sign and select Convert to Number.Ĭonvert text into number by changing the cell formatĪnother quick way to convert numerical values formatted as text to numbers is this:.Select all the cells containing numbers formatted as text.If your cells display an error indicator (green triangle in the top left corner), converting text strings to numbers is a two-click thing: Convert to number in Excel with error checking There is no challenge that cannot be overcome. If the easy techniques don't work for you, please don't get disheartened. Below we will cover them all beginning with the fastest and easiest ones. There are a handful of different ways to change text to number of Excel. In the image below, you can see the text representations of numbers on the right and actual numbers on the left: There may be a leading apostrophe visible in the formula bar.The Number Format box displays the Text format (in many cases, but not always).If several cells are selected, the Status Bar only shows Count.If several cells are selected, the Status Bar shows Average, Count and SUM.

But there are other visual indicators of text-numbers: Numbers In some cases, an error indicator does not show up for numbers formatted as text. Put the mouse pointer over the sign, and Excel will inform you about the potential issue: The number in this cell is formatted as text or preceded by an apostrophe. Selecting a cell with an error indicator displays a caution sign with the yellow exclamation point (please see the screenshot below). This appears as a small green triangle in the top left corner of a cell.
As numeric how to#
How to identify numbers formatted as text in ExcelĮxcel has an inbuilt error checking feature that alerts you about possible problems with cell values.


Sometimes values in your Excel worksheets look like numbers, but they don't add up, don't multiply and produce errors in formulas. The tutorial shows many different ways to turn a string into a number in Excel: Convert to Number error checking option, formulas, mathematic operations, Paste Special, and more.
