SOLVED

apostrophe

Copper Contributor

how can i insert an apostrophe in front of numbers in a column so that they are now recognized as text.  I have an entire column and can't seem to use concat or other functions to accomplish this.

6 Replies

@TonyA730

Select the range, then run the following macro:

Sub Apostrophe()
    Dim rng As Range
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False
    For Each rng In Selection
        If rng.Value <> "" Then
            rng.Value = "'" & rng.Value
        End If
    Next rng
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

@TonyA730 

You might also be able to achieve the result you require by changing the number format to 'text'.

best response confirmed by TonyA730 (Copper Contributor)
Solution

@TonyA730 Alternatively, just use "Text to Columns" (TTC) on the Data ribbon. Select the range of numbers (column wise) you want to convert to text. Press the TTC button. "Next", "Next" (i.e. change nothing in steps 1 and 2. Then in step 3 of 3, select Text as the data type. Press Finish.

Screenshot 2021-12-17 at 07.55.15.png

The numbers will now be texts (left aligned), no apostrophes needed and no need to format the cells as text either.

Oh my - thank you - this was sending me over the edge wasting time... I tried every formula I could dream of. LOL
Thanks again!

Thank you very much for taking time to reply. However this doesn't work in terms of using it in vlookup. It isn't found with compairing to another text number with the apostrophe i.e. '123456
Thank you very much for taking time to help! It is appreciated.
1 best response

Accepted Solutions
best response confirmed by TonyA730 (Copper Contributor)
Solution

@TonyA730 Alternatively, just use "Text to Columns" (TTC) on the Data ribbon. Select the range of numbers (column wise) you want to convert to text. Press the TTC button. "Next", "Next" (i.e. change nothing in steps 1 and 2. Then in step 3 of 3, select Text as the data type. Press Finish.

Screenshot 2021-12-17 at 07.55.15.png

The numbers will now be texts (left aligned), no apostrophes needed and no need to format the cells as text either.

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