Forum Discussion

Copper Contributor

Jan 30, 2020

Solved

Find can't "see" numbers stored as text

I need to work with an institutional spreadsheet (in other words, I can't change it) that has a column that includes numbers stored as text. If I type, for example, "406731" (without the quotes) in t...

excel

Excel on Mac

Patrick2788
Jan 30, 2020
Paul_Robinson
Excel can locate it either way. Make sure you're not looking for a Format in addition to the number.

Paul_Robinson

Copper Contributor

Jan 30, 2020

Thanks, PReagan, Twifoo , Patrick2788 , and SergeiBaklan , all good suggestions. With some embarrassment, I have to admit that I can't reproduce this. The only thing I can think is that I inadvertently had a range of cells selected. I marked Patrick2788 's as the best response for the "Excel can locate it either way" part.

SergeiBaklan

Diamond Contributor

Jan 30, 2020

Paul_Robinson

I'm surprised why you can't reproduce no one of the suggestions, perhaps we misunderstood your question?

Paul_Robinson
Copper Contributor
Jan 30, 2020
SergeiBaklan My question concerned using the Excel "Find" command to find a certain number stored as text; I thought the command didn't work. When I tried again after reading the responses, the find command did find my search term, whether it was stored as text or as a number.
- SergeiBaklan
  Diamond Contributor
  Jan 30, 2020
  Paul_Robinson
  
  Yes, exactly, Find shows both 345 and "345". Inquiry could show all cells with numbers as texts. But if you need only specific number as text ("345") ignoring all such numbers as numbers (345) I know only the workaround with conditional formatting. However, perhaps there are other solutions.