Part III: Creating Charts and Other Visualizations
If you include only one format syntax, meaning that you don’t add a second formatting option with the use of a semi-
colon separator, that one format will be applied to all numbers, negative or positive.
Formatting numbers in thousands and millions
Formatting numbers to appear in thousands or millions is a way to present value without
inundating your audience with overlarge numbers. To show your numbers in thousands,
highlight them, right-click, and select Format Cells.
After the Format Cells dialog box opens, click the Custom category to get to the screen
shown in Figure 23.1. In the Type input box, enter the following syntax:
#,##0,
After you confirm your changes, your numbers will automatically appear in the thousands
place.
The beautiful thing here is that this technique doesn’t change or truncate your numeric
values in any way. Excel is simply applying a cosmetic effect to the number. To see what
this means, take a look at Figure 23.2.
FIGURE 23.2
Formatting numbers applies only a cosmetic look. Look in the formula bar to see the real,
unformatted number.
The selected cell has been formatted to show in thousands. You see 118k. But if you look in
the formula bar above it, you’ll see the real unformatted number (117943.605787004). The
118k you are seeing in the cell is a cosmetically formatted version of the real number shown
in the formula bar.
