[Fixed!] Why Is Excel Changing My Numbers? (4 Reasons)

The spreadsheet program Microsoft Excel is one of the most widely used applications in our everyday lives. Excel was created for the sole purpose of optimizing users’ productivity. In most cases, it works as expected, but in some cases, it may actually work against you. If you are looking for some special tricks to solve the problem of “why is Excel changing my numbers” you’ve come to the right place. In Microsoft Excel, there are numerous ways to fix this problem. This article will discuss four methods to resolve the problem. Let’s follow the complete guide to learn all of this.

In the following section, we will use four effective and tricky solutions to solve the problem of “why is Excel changing my numbers”. This section provides extensive details on these solutions. You should learn and apply these to improve your thinking capability and Excel knowledge. We use the Microsoft Office 365 version here, but you can utilize any other version according to your preference.

1. Enabling Auto-Insert Decimal Point Option is Changing the Numbers in Excel

Due to Excel’s auto-insert decimal point option, sometimes it changes the numbers into decimals. Let’s take a step-by-step look at the matter with proper illustrations.

• First of all, we want to make a marks list of a subject for the student.
• In cells under the Marks column, we’ll input the marks of the corresponding students.
• Firstly, write down the marks of John Walter in cell C5. He gets 62 in this subject.

• Then, press ENTER to place the number in that cell.
• As soon as we press ENTER, the number in cell C5 gets transformed into 0.62.
• But we expected to get the number 62 in the cell.

• After that, insert other students’ scores in the sheet too.

Solution 1:

To solve the first problem, we’ll get the help of Excel Options. It’s simple & easy, just follow the following process.

📌 Steps:

• First of all, go to the File tab.
• Then, choose Options from the menu.

• Immediately, it opens the Excel Options dialog box.
• Here, move to the Advanced tab.
• In the Editing options, uncheck the box of Automatically insert a decimal point.
• Next, click OK.

• Again, it returns us to the worksheet.
• Then, select cell C5 and edit it. In this place, write down 62 again.
• As usual, click on Enter.

• Finally, enter all the entries in the sheet. Now, they are in the correct format.

Solution 2:

If you want to solve the problem of “why is Excel changing my numbers”, you need to use the help of VBA. Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is Microsoft’s Event Driven Programming Language. To use this feature you first need to have the Developer tab showing on your ribbon. Once you have that, follow these detailed steps to solve the problem.

📌 Steps:

• VBA has its own separate window to work with. You have to insert the code in this window too. To open the VBA window, go to the Developer tab on your ribbon. Then select Visual Basic from the Code group.

• After that click on the sheet where you want to solve the problem.

• Now select the sheet if it isn’t already selected. Then write down the following code in it.

Private Sub Solution1()
Dim hsh As Worksheet
For Each hsh In ActiveWorkbook.Sheets
    hsh.Cells.NumberFormat = "@"
Next
End Sub

• Next, save the code.
• Finally, enter all the entries in the sheet. Now, they are in the correct format.

Private Sub Solution1()

Dim hsh As Worksheet
Then, declare the necessary variables.
  For Each hsh In ActiveWorkbook.Sheets
    hsh.Cells.NumberFormat = "@"
Next

End Sub

Read More: How to Stop Excel from Auto Formatting Numbers

2. Increase Decimal Command is Changing Numbers in Excel

We use the Currency format in Excel when working with cash, bills, ledgers, or any other medium of exchange. There is also a problem associated with decimals. The dataset looks like this.

Solution:

To solve our 2nd problem, we’ll use the Format Cells dialog box in Excel. Let’s walk through the following methods to solve the problem.

📌 Steps:

• First of all, select the range of the cells C5:C14.
• After that, go to the Home tab.
• Then, click on the Decrease Decimal icon on the Number group twice.

• Alternatively, select the range of the cells.
• Then, go to the Home tab.
• After that, click on the little arrowhead at the right of the Number group.

• Instantly, the Format Cells dialog box appears.
• Here, the Currency format under the Category section is already selected because we had applied this to the range at first.
• Now, change the Decimal places to 0.
• As always, click OK.

• We can utilize any of the two ways we showed above. Thus, the numbers will look like the one below.

Read More: Why Excel Is Changing My Numbers to Decimals

3. You Have Typed a Really Long Number which Is causing Excel to Change Your Numbers

Excel numbers are often rounded to make them easier to understand. It can, however, be inaccurate when dealing with sensitive data. It is possible for simple fractional changes to have a significant impact on the entire project. Look at the picture below. Here, the Revenue is displayed in exponential form. But it may be difficult to understand for the general people. So, we want Excel to show the full number like in cells D6 and D7. Let’s see the process in detail.

Solution:

We will show you how to stop Excel from rounding up decimals in this solution.

📌 Steps:

• Firstly, select the range of the cells D5:D14.
• Hereafter, go to the Home tab.
• Next, click on the Number Format drop-down on the Number group.
• Then, select the Number format from the options.

• Next, place your cursor on the thin line between columns D and E.
• Then, make double-click on your mouse.
• Now, all the numbers are showing in full format instead of rounding themselves.

Read More: How to Stop Excel from Rounding 16 Digit Numbers

4. Excel Can’t Differentiate Between Numbers and Dates, So It’s Changing the Numbers

Spreadsheets can sometimes present a challenge when it comes to importing data. In Excel, numbers are usually detected as dates, but sometimes the software is trained incorrectly to do so. By entering 3/4, you will get 03-April as shown below.

• By pressing Enter, you will get 03-April as shown below.

Now, we want to solve this problem.

Solution 1:

We will show you how to solve this process in the following discussion.

📌 Steps:

• After adding the apostrophe (‘) sign before the number, type the number.
• Press Enter.

• Finally, the number will appear in its entirety.

Solution 2:

We will show you how to solve this process in the following discussion.

📌 Steps:

• Firstly, select the range of the cells C5:C9 and press Ctrl+1.

• Instantly, the Format Cells dialog box appears.
• Here, select Text under the Category section.
• As always, click on OK.

• Now, type the number.
• Finally, the number will appear in its entirety.

Read More: How to Stop Autocorrect in Excel for Dates

How to Stop Excel from Changing Numbers to Formulas

When you enter numbers containing 11 or more digits, MS Excel converts them to exponential (in scientific format). Converting back is possible in a number of ways. The problem will look like this.

Solution:

Here, we will use the CONCATENATE function. We will show you how to stop Excel from changing your numbers to formulas in this solution.

📌 Steps:

• First, select cell D5 and type the following formula.

• Next, press Enter.
• The output will look like this.

• Now, all the numbers are showing in full format instead of rounding themselves.

How to Stop Excel from Changing Numbers to Pound Signs

We use the Currency format in Excel when working with cash, bills, ledgers, or any other medium of exchange. There is also a problem associated with decimals. The dataset looks like this.

Solution:

To solve this problem, we’ll use the Format Cells dialog box in Excel. Let’s walk through the following methods to solve the problem.

📌 Steps:

• First of all, select the range of the cells C5:C14.
• After that, press Ctrl+1.

• Therefore, the Format Cells window will appear.
• Then, select the Number from the Category option.
• Next, click on OK.

• Thus, the numbers will look like the one below.

Download Practice Workbook

Download this practice workbook to exercise while you are reading this article. It contains all the datasets and methods in different spreadsheets for a clear understanding.

Conclusion

That’s the end of today’s session. I strongly believe that from now on, you may solve the problem of “Why is Excel changing my numbers”. If you have any queries or recommendations, please share them in the comments section below.

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