When using Excel to enter data in a spreadsheet, you may want to stop Excel from changing numbers to dates. This is because it can make numbers look silly, especially if they aren’t properly formatted. In order to accomplish this, you need to change your cell’s format. However, you might be wondering how to do this. Here are a few tricks to help you out.
The first thing you should do is to select all the cells you need to change. You can do this by highlighting all of the cells or by using the CTRL + A shortcut. Once you’ve selected all of the cells you need, you can start formatting them. To do this, you need to click on the “Format Cells” option from the right-click menu.
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There are many features and functions in Excel that you can use to format your spreadsheet. For example, you can format a number or string to a number, date, date/time, text, or a mixture of those. While you’re at it, you can also change the formatting of multiple cells. These formatting changes may affect a single row, column, or entire workbook.
Excel’s autocorrect feature can be disabled by clicking on the “AutoCorrect Options” window. Another way to prevent Excel from changing numbers to dates is to use an apostrophe in a cell. An apostrophe is not only a good way to save space in a cell, it also keeps Excel from converting your numbers into dates.
Excel doesn’t just convert numbers to dates, it also formats text. This is the best way to keep your spreadsheet from looking like a jumbled mess. If you don’t like the formatting, you can always change your cell’s format back to General, which will keep your numbers looking neat.
You can even prevent the conversion of numbers to dates by putting an ” (for hyphen) in a cell that contains a number. This is a small step, but it will ensure that the numbers you enter aren’t being messed with by the infamous Excel tinkerer.
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While Excel is preprogrammed to convert numbers to dates, it can still make a few mistakes. In particular, it can mess with numbers for months at a time. One of the best ways to avoid these errors is to prevent your cell from being automatically converted. You can do this by using a combination of hyphens and other delimiters.
In addition to the aforementioned trick, you can also use VBA code to prevent your cells from being automatically formatted. While VBA is an advanced technique, most Excel users aren’t ready for this level of control. Therefore, you’ll need to find the most appropriate option in the ribbon menu.
Other than using a hyphen or other delimiter, you can also stop Excel from changing numbers to dates by manually entering the relevant information. By default, Excel doesn’t ask you for this information. It simply makes assumptions based on what you enter.