Excel – Why does Excel 2010 automatically reformat numbers

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Excel 2010 is automatically reformatting numbers/cells where a specific number format has already been applied. Whenever I access or modify the cell contents, Excel reformats by changing the number of decimal places to 2. I've already gone into file \ options \ advanced \ and made sure that the option to automatically add decimal places is unselected, but Excel still automatically makes the change. Very time consuming to continue reselecting number formats each time the cell contents are changed/accessed.

Any ideas?

Thx!

Best Answer

You don't have to change the cells' formatting one at a time. You can apply the same formats to whole columns, ranges or even sheets. If you know that you'll have number in all the cells, make sure you set them to one of the number formats. The General formatting option is treated by Excel as a sort of "no formatting" option, so it will often try to guess what specific format you want it in.

Alternatively, you may want to look at this answer and see if it applies to your situation:

Excel assumes you have not applied a format if you use general, so it tries to find the best format for the data you entered. To disable this, go to File => Options => Advanced and uncheck the option for "Extend data range formats and formulas."

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