Part I: Getting Started with Excel
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FIGURE 2.10When you need more control over number formats, use the Number tab of the Format Cells dialog box.
The Number tab of the Format Cells dialog box displays 12 categories of number formats from
which to choose. When you select a category from the list box, the right side of the tab changes to
display the appropriate options.The Number category has three options that you can control: the number of decimal places dis-
played, whether to use a thousands separator, and how you want negative numbers displayed.
Notice that the Negative Numbers list box has four choices (two of which display negative values
in red), and the choices change depending on the number of decimal places and whether you
choose to separate thousands.The top of the tab displays a sample of how the active cell will appear with the selected number
format (visible only if a cell with a value is selected). After you make your choices, click OK to
apply the number format to all the selected cells.Cross-Reference
Chapter 10 discusses ROUND and other built-in functions. n
The following are the number-format categories, along with some general comments:l (^) General: The default format; it displays numbers as integers, as decimals, or in scientific
notation if the value is too wide to fit in the cell.