Forum Discussion

Omar_Uribe's avatar
Omar_Uribe
Copper Contributor
Feb 02, 2026

Paste values-only Excel

I copy data from websites and different software and paste it into Excel 2019. The values are pasted correctly—without the currency symbol or extra space before the numbers—even when using "Paste Values Only." It works as expected.

However, in Excel 365, the same data is pasted with the currency symbol "$" followed by a space and then the number, even when I select "Paste Values Only." This causes the values to be stored as General or Text format.

To fix this, I have to manually search and replace the symbol and the space.

How can I make Excel 365 paste data like Excel 2019 does?

Data source:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Currency symbol and space before numbers in Excel 365:

 

excel
office 365

2 Replies

  • Olufemi7's avatar
    Olufemi7
    Iron Contributor
    Feb 04, 2026

    Hello Omar_Uribe​, 

    In Excel 365, Paste Values Only pastes exactly what is copied, including currency symbols and spaces (e.g., $ 1234), so the result is stored as text; Excel 2019 may automatically convert it to a number, but 365 is more literal.
    According to Microsoft Docs, “Paste Values only pastes the values as displayed in the source cells. It does not remove any characters in the text or convert text to numbers.”

    Paste options

    To fix this, you can use

    =NUMBERVALUE(SUBSTITUTE(A1,"$ ",""))

    apply Text to Columns, or use a VBA macro like:

    Sub PasteValuesClean()
    Dim rng As Range, cell As Range
    Set rng = Application.InputBox("Select where to paste:", Type:=8)
    rng.PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteValues
    For Each cell In rng
        If VarType(cell.Value) = vbString Then
            cell.Value = Replace(cell.Value, "$ ","")
            If IsNumeric(cell.Value) Then cell.Value = Val(cell.Value)
        End If
    Next cell
End Sub

    This will paste data without $ and convert it to numbers automatically.

     

  • mathetes's avatar
    mathetes
    Gold Contributor
    Feb 03, 2026

    "Paste Values Only" doesn't convert text to numeric values; it pastes content (aka value) "as is"

    But assuming that source is in fact text, and therefore what's in your column C is also text, you can convert to value by entering in column D,  =VALUE(C1) and copying that down. No need to search and replace the dollar sign and space.