How To Get Excel To Stop Changing Numbers Into Dates

End Excel from Changing Numbers to Dates or Scientific Notations

We all know that Excel tin be a powerful tool, all the same in an effort to anticipate the demand of a user, Excel tin as well make it difficult to create spreadsheets for importing information into Acctivate QuickBooks Inventory Software. Yous may have entered a string of numbers in Excel only to find they were reformatted to a date or something else and no longer display what you intended. Importing or updating records in a database most often the information must lucifer 'exactly'. Therefore when Excel changes the format of your import data your import volition neglect. This can be extremely frustrating merely do not worry yous have a few options to easily correct it.

The Apostrophe Method

By placing an Apostrophe ( ' ) preceding the number, you will prevent Excel from reformatting the number and display the number exactly how yous have it entered.

Case:

Entering '1/two into a jail cell it will prevent Excel from making your fraction a date.

This method means that even if someone were to change the cell formatting back to Full general and tries to edit a cell it will continue to look the same instead of beingness auto-formatted by Excel.

Blazon an Apostrophe in the Cell
Enter the number as you want information technology to display and press Enter
Now the numbers should brandish and import correctly
This will let you use Lucifer and VLOOKUP functions in Excel (Apostrophe will be ignored)

Format every bit Text Method

The second most common method to simply format the entire worksheet or a grouping of cells every bit Text before yous enter your data. Formatting cells to display every bit text will make Excel display the data exactly as it has been entered. (Remember to format your cellsBefore you input your data)

Select the entire canvass or a group of cells
Side by side you lot can either 'Correct Click' within the cells yous take selected or select the prison cell format drop downwardly from the Home tab.
Select Text as the format method for your cells
Input your data and it will display exactly equally entered