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: Using Slashed Zeroes.

Using Slashed Zeroes

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 14, 2022)

For some printouts it may be beneficial to use a zero with a slash through it rather than the standard zero without a slash. There are several ways you can go about using the slashed zeroes. The first is to insert the Alt+216 symbol, which is a capital O with a slash through it. There are two problems with this approach, however. First is that the symbol is just a bit wider than a regular zero, so it may look a bit funny. The second (and more serious) problem is that the symbol is not viewed as a number by Excel, so you can't use the values that include this symbol in your calculations.

A better solution is to simply change to a different font that uses a slashed zero in place of the regular zero. There are any number of such fonts that may already be installed on your system. Good candidates are the Terminal, WST_Engl, Fixedsys, Consolas, or Sydnie fonts. You'll need to experiment with whatever font you select; it may not be available in all the font sizes you expect.

If you cannot locate a suitable font on your own system, there are any number of free fonts available on the web. These are places you can start your search:

http://code.google.com/p/i3project/wiki/Fonts
http://www.k8zt.com/zero.html
http://www.wm8c.com/slashed_zero_fonts.htm

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3835) 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: Using Slashed Zeroes.

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. ...

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