How to Align Decimal Points in Excel (3 Quick Ways)

You have come to the right place if you are looking for the answer or some unique tips to align decimal points in Excel. There are 3 easy ways to align decimal points in Excel. This article will walk you through each and every step with appropriate examples. As a result, you can use them easily for your purpose. Let’s move on to the article’s main discussion.

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3 Quick Methods to Align Decimal Points in Excel

1. Align Right Specifying Number of Digits After Decimal Point

2. Align Decimal Points Using Custom Formatting with Right Alignment

3. Align Numbers Keeping the Positions of Decimal Points Fixed Using Custom Formatting

Conclusion

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Aligning Decimal Points in a Column.xlsx

3 Quick Methods to Align Decimal Points in Excel

In this section, I will show you the quick and easy steps to align decimal points in Excel on the Windows operating system. This article contains detailed explanations with clear illustrations for everything. I have used the Microsoft 365 version here. However, you may use any other version depending on your availability. Please leave a comment if any part of this article does not work in your version.

Here, I have a dataset in which there are 4 columns. And, in the 4th column, there are some profit values that contain some decimal digits of a heterogeneous pattern. So, I want to align the decimal points thus it will look easy to differentiate the decimal digits from the main value.

1. Align Right Specifying Number of Digits After Decimal Point

First, I will show you the easiest way that is very much familiar to you. Here, you will specify decimal digits and then align the cell value to the right side. Follow the steps below:

📌 Steps:

First, select all the cells of column “Profit” then, go to the Home tab in the top ribbon.
Click on the Number Format dropdown list and select the “More Number Formats” option.

Then, a new window named “Format Cells” will appear.
Here, in the Number tab, select the Number category.
Then, increase the Decimal Places value from 2 to 4.
After that, press Ok.

Now, you will see that all the cell values have 4 decimal digits.
Then, select the cells again and click on the “Right Alignment” option in the top ribbon.

As a result, all of the decimal points of the cells are aligned in the same position.

2. Align Decimal Points Using Custom Formatting with Right Alignment

Alternatively, you can use the custom formatting option to set 4 digits after the decimal point. Follow the steps below for this:

📌 Steps:

Same as before, select the cells >> go to the Home tab >> select More Number Formats.
Then, in the Format Cells window, click on the Custom category option.
After that, type “0,0000” in the Type box. Thus, you have specified 4 digits after the decimal point.
Finally, press OK.

Now, you have to select the cells again and make them right aligned as instructed in the previous method.

As a result, you will get the decimal points aligned in a similar pattern in the column.

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3. Align Numbers Keeping the Positions of Decimal Points Fixed Using Custom Formatting

You can also use only Custom Formatting to align the decimal points in a similar pattern. For this method, follow the steps below:

First, following the previous procedure, Select cells >> Go to the Home tab >> Click on the Format drop-down menu >> Select More Number Formats
In the Format Cells window, select the Custom category and insert the following code in the Type box:

????0.0???;−???0.0???

🔎 Format Code Explanation:

Here, each “?” mark assigns space for one character. If there is any value for the position of a question mark, it will be assigned to that position else there will be a blank space only.

So, four question mark before the decimal point indicates to assign four spaces before it.
And, the “0” denotes that, if there is any value in that position, it will be placed there, else one 0 will take that position. This is applicable both for the position of before and after the decimal point.
Here, the first part is applicable for the positive values and the later part is for negative To make align with the negative values, there is one extra “?” in the positive format.

Thus, you have aligned the decimal points of a column at a fixed position in Excel.

Conclusion

In this article, you have found how to align decimal points in Excel. I hope you found this article helpful. You can visit our website, ExcelDemy, to learn more Excel-related content. Please leave comments, suggestions, or queries if you have any in the comment section below.