Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Converting Text to Numbers.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 18, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
If you are using Excel to grab information from an external source, it is possible that you could end up with some pretty strange information in your cells. For instance, let's say that you have cells that contain numbers such as 1,234.5-. These are formatted as text cells in Excel, and therefore cannot be used in calculations.
The following macro will check the cells in a selected range. If the cells contain text, and that text ends in a minus sign, the macro will move the minus sign to the beginning of the text and stuff it back into the cell. The result is that the cell is converted from a text value to the proper numeric value.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here:
Sub ConvToNum()
Dim MyText As Variant
Dim MyRange As Range
Dim CellCount As Integer
Set MyRange = ActiveSheet.Range(ActiveWindow.Selection.Address)
For CellCount = 1 To MyRange.Cells.Count
MyText = MyRange.Cells(CellCount).Value
If VarType(MyText) = vbString Then
MyText = Trim(MyText)
If Right(MyText, 1) = "-" Then
MyText = "-" & Left(MyText, Len(MyText) - 1)
MyRange.Cells(CellCount).Value = MyText
End If
End If
Next CellCount
End Sub
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2300) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Converting Text to Numbers.
Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!
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