[Solved]: Currency Format Not Working in Excel

While working in Microsoft Excel, sometimes we need to change numeric values to currency format. But often the currency format is not changed. This happens when the cell format is in text or other formats. Today in this article, I will share with you solving currency format not working in Excel.


Why Is Currency Format Not Working?

The main reason behind the currency format not working is cell formatting. Often even after pasting data, the cells are formatted as text or general format. Thus applying currency format won’t work over the value.


Currency Format Is Not Working in Excel: 3 Solutions

In the following, I have described 3 simple and easy methods to solve currency format not working in Excel. Stay tuned!


1. Use VALUE Function

To solve this problem, you can change the cell format to a numeric value by using the VALUE function. The VALUE function converts cell value to numeric value for the provided string. Follow the instructions below to solve this issue-

Steps:

  • First, choose a cell (F5) and write the following formula down-
=VALUE(D5)

Use VALUE Function to solve excel currency format not working

  • Second, press ENTER and drag the Fill Handle down to fill all the cells.

  • While the cells (F5:F12) are selected press CTRL+1 from the keyboard.

Use VALUE Function to solve excel currency format not working

  • Thus a new window will appear named “Format Cells”.
  • From the new window choose “Currency” and your desired symbol from the “Symbol” box.
  • Simply, hit OK to continue.

  • Finally, we will get the currency format in a new column within the blink of an eye. Simple isn’t it?

Use VALUE Function to solve excel currency format not working

Read More: How to Add Currency Symbol in Excel


2. Utilize Paste Special Tool

You might be looking for a simple solution where you can change the cell format without using any function and get the output in the same column. Just utilize the paste special tool to solve your currency format problem.

Steps:

  • To start with, choose cells (D5:D12) and click CTRL+C to copy.

Utilize Paste Special Tool to solve excel currency format not working

  • Next, click “Paste Special” from the Home ribbon.

  • Immediately, a new dialog box will appear named “PasteSpecial”.
  • From the dialog box choose “Values” and press OK to change all the cell values to numeric values.

Utilize Paste Special Tool to solve excel currency format not working

  • Hence, let’s change the cell format to currency format.
  • For that, select the cells (D5:D12) and click the “FormatCells” icon from the Home ribbon.

Utilize Paste Special Tool

  • Similarly, click “Currency” and choose your desired currency symbol in the “Symbol” box.
  • Hence, hit OK to finish.

  • In summary, we have solved our problem and now the currency format is displayed for the chosen cells.

Utilize Paste Special Tool

Read More: How to Change Currency Symbol in Excel


3. Use Format Cells Feature

If you want you can also change the cell format from the “Format Cells” feature to reach your destination solving the issue. Follow the steps below-

Steps:

  • Presently, choose cells (D5:D12) and press CTRL+1 from the keyboard to go to the “Format Cells” window.

Use Format Cells Feature

  • In the same fashion, choose “Currency” and your choice of currency format from the drop-down list of “Symbol”.
  • Gently, press OK.

  • In conclusion, we will get the currency format for the cells within a moment solving our problem.

Use Format Cells Feature


Download Practice Workbook

Download this practice workbook to exercise while you are reading this article.


Conclusion

In this article, I have tried to cover all the methods to solve currency format not working in Excel. Take a tour of the practice workbook and download the file to practice by yourself. I hope you find it helpful. Please inform us in the comment section about your experience. We are always responsive to your queries. Stay tuned and keep learning.


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Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram holds a BSc degree in Industrial and Production Engineering from Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology. Over the past 2 years, he has been actively contributing to the ExcelDemy project, where he has authored more than 150 articles. Now, he is working as an Excel VBA and Content Developer. He likes learning new things about Microsoft Office, especially Excel VBA, Power Query, Data Analysis, and Excel Statistics. He is also very interested in machine learning and... Read Full Bio

2 Comments
  1. Thank you for the several means to solve this problem. I tried all but the currency sign didn’t still appear. What could possibly be the problem?

    • Dear Anita,
      Thank you for the comment. We really appreciate your response for sharing with us.
      The currency sign not appearing in Excel may be due to the values are stored as text in your spreadsheet. When values are stored as text, you need to convert those as numbers and then change the format to currency to get your desired currency format. You can follow the below instructions to learn about this technique.

      First, choose the cells (D5:D12) and click the error icon following the image below.

      Getting error sign as the values are stored as text values

      Next, choose Convert to Number option from the list.

      Converting values to numbers by clicking the error icon

      As the numbers are now converted as number, now press CTRL+1 to visit the Format Cells feature to add currency symbol.

      Pressing CTRL+1 to open Format Cells window

      From the Format Cells window, choose Currency from the left pane, select your desired currency symbol and hit OK.

      Choosing currency and desired symbol from the list

      As a result, you will get the currency sign added in your worksheet.

      Final result with solving currency symbol not working in Excel

      If you are still having problem with the currency symbol, then you can share your workbook with us. We will check and solve the problem.

      Thanks & Regards
      Wasim Akram
      Team Exceldemy

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