Forum Discussion
Stop automatically changing numbers to dates
You should be readily able to change the formatting applied to the cells that are appearing as dates. Just select the number format you want.
Highlight the cells (or the column) in question. Go to Format...Cell..... and pick the number format desired. You can also do this from the Home tool bar.
Thanks for your answer.
I see there is a large list of options on the "Number" section:
Dates, Hour, Fraction, Scientific...
Is that the section that you are talking about? What option from those should I choose?
I want to manipulate financial data, it is true that some cells are timestamps but I have to stop Excel from creating dates from the data itself.
Thanks a lot for your answer.
You are the one to answer that question. What kind of number do you want it to be (or to return to)?
You can always change it again until you find and then settle on the one you want.
OR you can go on the Home toolbar, over there on the right, where the default is "General" if you pick on that you'll get a lot more choices, including, down at the bottom, a choice for "More number formats"
where you can even specify a custom number format. But you're the one to answer your own question. Don't worry...you can always change your mind if you don't like what results. The underlying number is stayng the same; you are just changing the way it displays.