{"id":754,"date":"2018-06-30T16:59:19","date_gmt":"2018-06-30T16:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/?p=754"},"modified":"2024-03-14T11:44:36","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T11:44:36","slug":"custom-number-formatting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/training\/custom-number-formatting\/","title":{"rendered":"Custom Number Formatting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When you have numerical values in your worksheet, and you want to format them in a specific way that is not present in the default format types, you can always create your own by using the&nbsp;<strong>Custom Formatting&nbsp;<\/strong>feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You probably noticed that such numbers as phone numbers or social security numbers are divided into small portions, usually separated by spaces or hyphens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s because the human brain is actually better at remembering a larger number of digits or characters when they are divided into small groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Excel, you don\u2019t have to create a new format for zip code, social security number, or phone number. But sometimes you need to work with other formats, for example, VAT identification number. You won&#8217;t find it in Excel, you have to create your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"format wp-block-heading\">Example 1:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Look at the following example. You have two names with two VAT identification numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"468\" height=\"139\" src=\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/06\/unformatted-example.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-755\" srcset=\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/06\/unformatted-example.png 468w, https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/06\/unformatted-example-300x89.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>To format those numbers, first select cells\u00a0<strong>C3<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>C4<\/strong>,\u00a0open the\u00a0<strong>Format Cells<\/strong>\u00a0window (from the contextual menu), and in the\u00a0<strong>Numbers<\/strong>\u00a0tab select the\u00a0<strong>Custom<\/strong>\u00a0format. In the\u00a0<strong>Type<\/strong>,\u00a0textbox enter \u201c000-000-00-00\u201d and click\u00a0<strong>OK.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"541\" height=\"471\" src=\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/06\/custom-number-formatting.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-756\" srcset=\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/06\/custom-number-formatting.png 541w, https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/06\/custom-number-formatting-300x261.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 541px) 100vw, 541px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to the custom formatting we achieved the desired effect. Now, the numbers are easier to read and remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"468\" height=\"140\" src=\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/06\/result.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-757\" srcset=\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/06\/result.png 468w, https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/06\/result-300x90.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When you have numerical values in your worksheet, and you want to format them in a specific way that is not present in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[188],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Custom Number Formatting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how to create your own custom number formatting in Excel to make numbers easier to read and remember. Format phone numbers, zip codes, and more!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/training\/custom-number-formatting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Custom Number Formatting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn how to create your own custom number formatting in Excel to make numbers easier to read and remember. Format phone numbers, zip codes, and more!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/training\/custom-number-formatting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-06-30T16:59:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-14T11:44:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/06\/unformatted-example.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tomasz Decker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tomasz Decker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/training\/custom-number-formatting\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/training\/custom-number-formatting\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tomasz Decker\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/#\/schema\/person\/41b0b6996aaa4c4127f86f3d24452d42\"},\"headline\":\"Custom Number Formatting\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-30T16:59:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-14T11:44:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/training\/custom-number-formatting\/\"},\"wordCount\":213,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/#\/schema\/person\/41b0b6996aaa4c4127f86f3d24452d42\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/training\/custom-number-formatting\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/06\/unformatted-example.png\",\"keywords\":[\"added\"],\"articleSection\":[\"training\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/training\/custom-number-formatting\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/training\/custom-number-formatting\/\",\"name\":\"Custom Number Formatting\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/training\/custom-number-formatting\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/training\/custom-number-formatting\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/06\/unformatted-example.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-30T16:59:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-14T11:44:36+00:00\",\"description\":\"Learn how to create your own custom number formatting in Excel to make numbers easier to read and remember. 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