Format a cell so that the comma is there

[Marc]

My boss just gave me a spreadsheet, that was passed on to her. The problem is that we cannot format the cells to use the 1000 separtor (,). Currently the cell looks like 12000.00 we want 12,000.00

I tried using the format cell dialog box, but I just get no change in the displayed value. I'm baffled. She mentioned that this worksheet was produced for her by someone using Impromptu. Might the application stripped the ability to format cells. I can align, bold and underline the cell contents using the toolbar buttons, but when I use the "," button the cell value merely moves to the left slightly. Regards,

 

[Anne Troy]

Sounds like your values are text and not data.

Force them to become data:

Put a 1 in any blank cell.
Copy that cell.
Select *bad* cells.
Hit Edit-Paste Special-Multiply.
This multiplies your values times 1, which = no change in value.
But, it forces Excel to now see your values as numbers.
Now, format the cells as desired.

 

[Mark W.]

An easier way to convert your values is to choose the Data | Text to Columns... menu command and press [ Finish ].
This message was edited by Mark W. on 2002-11-01 14:08

 

[Marc]

Thanks to you both. I tried both methods. Mark, When I tried your approach Excel97 balked and stated that it could only convert one column at a time. Although it does produce the desired result.

I ended up using Anne's solution as it allowed for multiple column conversion.

Thanks Again....For spreading the knowledge, Marc