Chapter 2: Entering and Editing Worksheet Data
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The formatting that you apply works with the selected cell or cells. Therefore, you need to select the cell (or range of
cells) before applying the formatting. Also remember that changing the number format does not affect the underlying
value. Number formatting affects only the appearance.
Values that you enter into cells normally are unformatted. In other words, they simply
consist of a string of numerals. Typically, you want to format the numbers so that they’re
easier to read or are more consistent in terms of the number of decimal places shown.Figure 2.8 shows a worksheet that has two columns of values. The first column consists of
unformatted values. The cells in the second column are formatted to make the values easier
to read. The third column describes the type of formatting applied.FIGURE 2.8
Use numeric formatting to make it easier to understand what the values in the worksheet
represent.This workbook is available on this book’s website at http://www.wiley.com/go/excel2019bible. The
file is named number formatting.xlsx.If you select a cell that has a formatted value, the Formula bar displays the value in its unformatted state because
the formatting affects only the way the value appears in the cell—not the actual value contained in the cell. There are
a few exceptions, however. When you enter a date or a time, Excel always displays the value as a date or a time, even
though it’s stored internally as a value. Also, values that use the Percentage format display with a percent sign in the
Formula bar.