Excel Cell Formats

General

Format cells that have no specific number format.

Currency

Formats are used for general monetary values. Use Accounting formats to align decimal points in a column.

Number

Is used for general display of numbers. Currency and Accounting offer specialized formatting for monetary value.

Custom

Type the number format code, using on of the existing codes as a starting point. Typically numbers that are arranged in a specific order. Credit card numbers are an example.

Text

format cells are treated as text even when a number is in the cell the cell is displayed exactly as entered.

Fraction

formats as a fraction

Scientific

formats as scientific notation

Special

formats cells for Zip Code, Phone Numbers, Social Security Numbers and Serial Numbers. Typically numbers not used in mathematics.

Time

formats display data and time serial numbers as time values. Except for items that have an (*), applied formats do no switch date or time orders with the operating system.

Date

formats display date and tme serial numbers as date values. orders with the operating system. Except for items that have an asterisk (*), applied formats do not switch data.

Accounting

formats line up the currency symbols and decimal points in a column.

Percentage

formats multiply the cell value by 100 and displays the result with a percent symbol.