One out of three spreadsheet enthusiasts don't know how to use fractions. They try but they only get partially there. It's like the odds are stacked against them, they are fighting the percentages or just can't cross the great divide...
Number formatting allows the user to have the data appear in a pre-defined format. Did you want the date in the completely wrong format of "mm-dd-yyyy" or the proper, easy to sort way "yyyy-mm-dd", a beautifully cascading number sequence? How about a pesky dollar value that needs decimals or a predefined barcode that requires a set number of digits even if that means a string of leading "0"s? Yes, number formatting takes care of all that.
Before we get to far, here is how to access them:
You can see all the "normal ones". Your list may be a bit different depending on what you have used in the past. I'll let you try out the menu choices on your own.
What I am more interested in is the custom format. Here is Google's own description of them.
For these examples, enter in "=" and then a number in a cell then go to Format - Number - Custom number format, enter in the format code and click "Apply".
Examples:
- Convert to digital sizing or storage
- [<1000000]0.00," KB";[<1000000000]0.00,," MB";0.00,,," GB"
- Example: =10000000 becomes 10.00 MB
- Leading zeroes
- 00000####
- Example: =4445454 becomes 000004445454
And the final one....fractions:
# ??/??
Example: =300/7 becomes 42 6/7
Now, am I happy with the "/" instead of a proper fraction...definitely not but we can't win every battle.
So, in the comments, let me know a strange an wonderful custom number format you have found or created. Wow me and get a discount on something from my site.
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