custom format, M has to be "M"

[lezawang]

Hi
I have number between 1M to 10M. So I wanted to format to show

1 M instead of 1 000 000

So I went to format cells-->custom and typed #,, M
But excel gave me error message

I had to write it like this #,,"M"

Why is that? If I wrote #,,K

excel wont give me error message. So only when I use M then M has to be between " "

Thank you very much.

 

[Rick Rothstein]

The Custom Formatter thinks the M is a shortcut pattern for the word Month, so you must put it in quotes (or, alternately, precede it with a backslash) so it sees it as a plain character and not a pattern meta-character.

 

[ISY]

Hi

Excel custom number formats

#.##0.K
8490 --> 8K

#.##0.." M"
12452456 --> 12 M