Formatting Numbers

A nice feature of Excel is its ability to format numbers beyond basic figures. You can modify your spreadsheet to include currency symbols, fractions, percentages, time, date, and numbers with commas.

In an Excel spreadsheet, the values you assign to a cell are of the default "General" style. This means that your table will display plain numbers--no commas or other flourishes. Cell formatting allows you to change the way your numbers look. For example, you probably wouldn't want your table to display the ".0" after a value if your data is dealing with strictly whole numbers.
The Format Cells dialog box allows you to do this--you can format a single cell, a row, a column, or a range of cells that you choose. Once you choose your desired cell format, you may go in and change details such as the way decimals are displayed, a specific country's currency, or other more specialized formatting.