Using Custom Number Formats

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 12, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Excel provides quite a few predefined number formats that you can use. There may be times when you need a number format that isn't pre-defined by Excel. Fortunately, you can create custom number formats that provide you with complete control over how numbers appear.

Custom number formats are created through the use of formatting codes. Before you can create your own custom number formats, you need to understand how the formatting codes work. The next several tips examine each of the formatting codes understood by Excel. (See here, here, and here.) If you study these codes, you will be ready to create your own formats.

Once you understand formatting codes, you can start to create your own formats. This is done by first selecting the cells you want to format and then choosing Cells from the Format menu. When you see the Format Cells dialog box, make sure you select the Number tab and select Custom as the number category, which is the bottom choice in the Category list. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Number tab from the Format Cells dialog box.

In the Type field at the right side of the dialog box is the code for the currently selected number format. You can change these codes or simply enter your own codes. By adding conditionals and colors to your formats, you can get very complex, indeed. Whatever you enter is automatically added to the Custom category, and can be used anywhere within the workbook.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2673) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Creating Two-Line Custom Formats

Creating custom formats is a very powerful way to display information exactly as you want it to appear. Most custom ...

Discover More

Working on Shared Templates

In many companies it is common to have standard templates accessible through the internal network. If you have templates ...

Discover More

Numbering Filtered Rows

When you filter rows in your data, you may want to later number those rows. This tip provides a variety of ways you can ...

Discover More

Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2019 For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Formatting Currency

If you want to format currency values so that Excel uses periods between groups of thousands and commas as a decimal ...

Discover More

Getting Rid of Leading Zeros in a Number Format

Excel, by default, displays numbers with a leading zero, if they are less than 1. Here's how you can get rid of those ...

Discover More

Understanding Monospace Fonts

Information in a worksheet needs to be displayed using fonts. If you understand the two different types of fonts ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is seven more than 6?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.