Excel XP

Introduction

By the end of this lesson, learners should be able to:

• Format the display of numbers
• Format the date
• Format the time
• Format the display of percentages

Formatting Numbers in the Format Cells Dialog Box

Numbers in Excel can assume many different formats: Date, Time, Percentage or Decimals.

To Format the Appearance of Numbers in a Cell:

• Select a cell or range of cells.
• Choose Format Cells from the menu bar.
  
  
  
  (You could also right-click and choose Format Cells from the shortcut menu.)
  
  
• The Format Cells dialog box opens.
• Click the Number tab.
  
  
  
  
• Click Number in the Category drop-down list.
  
  
  
  
• Use the Decimal places scroll bar to select the number of decimal places (e.g., 2 would display 13.50, 3 would display 13.500).
• Click the Use 1000 Separator box if you want commas (1,000) inserted in the number.
• Use the Negative numbers drop-down list to indicate how numbers less than zero are to be displayed.
• Click the OK button.

Formatting Date in the Format Cells Dialog Box

The date can be formatted in many different ways in Excel XP. Here are a few ways it can appear:

October 6, 2003
10/06/03
10-Oct-03

To Format the Appearance of a Date in a Cell:

• Select a cell or range of cells.
• Choose Format Cells from the menu bar.
• The Format Cells dialog box opens.
• Click the Number tab.
• Click Date in the Category drop-down list.
  
  
  
  
• Select the desired date format from the Type drop-down list.
• Click the OK button.

Formatting Time in the Format Cells Dialog Box

The time can be formatted in many different ways in Excel XP. Here are a few ways it can appear:

13:30
1:30 PM

To Format the Appearance of Time in a Cell:

• Select the range of cells you want to format.
• Choose Format Cells from the menu bar.
• The Format Cells dialog box opens.
• Click the Number tab.
• Click Time in the Category drop-down list.
  
  
  
  
• Select the desired time format from the Type drop-down list.
• Click the OK button.

Formatting Percentage in the Format Cells Dialog Box

There may be times you want to display certain numbers as a percentage. For example, what percentage of credit cards bills account for your total monthly expenses?

To Express Numbers as a Percentage in a Spreadsheet:

• Select a cell or range of cells.
  
  
  
  
• Choose Format Cells from the menu bar.
• The Format Cells dialog box opens.
• Click the Number tab.
• Click Percentage in the Category drop-down list.
  
  
  
  
• Define the Decimal Places that will appear to the right of each number.
• Click the OK button.
  
  
  
  

Challenge

• Type a Number in cell B2 and format it to have four decimal places.
• Type a Date in cell B3 and format it to look like: October 6, 2003
• Type a Time in cell B4 and format it to look like: 1:30:00 AM
• Type a large number in cell B5 and a smaller number in cell C5. Then, in cell D5 define a formula to divide cell B5 by cell C5. Format the answer in cell D5 to be a Percentage with 1 decimal place.