Using the TEXT FunctionĮxcel has an in-built TEXT function that is meant to convert a numeric value to a text value (where you have to specify the format of the text in which you want to get the final result). So it’s best to copy and paste values only. With regular copy-paste, it also copied the formatting from the copied cells. You will have to make that data entry again.Īlso, keep in mind that cell formatting can change in case you copy and paste some data to these cells. In this example, while I changed the cell formatting first before entering the data, you can also do this with cells that already have data in them.īut remember that if you already had entered numbers that were changed by Excel (such as removing leading zeros or changing text to dates), that won’t come back. This means that Excel would not automatically change the text you enter (such as truncating the leading zeros or converting entered numbers into dates) Now, if you enter any number or any text string in these cells, it would automatically be considered as a text string. The above steps would change the default formatting of the cells from General to Text. So if you want to enter 001, enter ‘001 (where there is an apostrophe before the number).Īnd don’t worry, the apostrophe is not visible in the cell. If you manually entering data in Excel and you don’t want your numbers to change the format automatically, here is a simple trick: Not all these methods are the same and some would be more suitable than others depending on your situation. In this section, I will cover four different ways you can use to convert numbers to text in Excel. Now, let’s go ahead and have a look at some of the methods you can use to convert numbers to text in Excel. So if you enter anything that is a valid date format in Excel, it would be converted to a date.Ī lot of people reach out to me for this as they want to enter scores in Excel in this format, but end up getting frustrated when they see dates instead.Īgain, changing the format of the cell from number to text will help keep the scores as is. Try entering 01-01 in Excel and it will automatically change it to date (01 January of the current year). This one erk a lot of people (including myself). It just changes the digits to 0 after the 15th digit.Īgain, this is something that is taken care of if you convert the number to text. So if you are working with SSN, account numbers, or any other type of large numbers, there is a possibility that your input data is automatically being changed by Excel.Īnd what’s even worse is that you don’t get any prompt or error. Entering Large Numeric Valuesĭo you know that you can only enter a numeric value that is 15 digits long in Excel? If you enter a 16 digit long number, it will change the 16th digit to 0. One common scenario where you might need this is when you’re working with large numbers – such as SSN or employee ids that have leading zeros. This way, you get exactly what you enter. While this is not an issue in most cases (as you wouldn’t leading zeros), in case you do need these then one of the solutions is to convert these numbers to text. Keeping Leading Zerosįor example, if you enter 001 in a cell in Excel, you will notice that Excel automatically removes the leading zeros (as it thinks these are unnecessary). Lets look at a couple of scenarios where having numbers creates issues for the users. But in some cases, having a number could actually be a problem. When working with numbers in Excel, it’s best to keep these as numbers only.
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