Forum Discussion
Harry_S_S
Jun 30, 2023Copper Contributor
Brackets around negative numbers (formatting)
I am trying to get to grips with the basics of excel at the moment and just trying to sort out some optimal settings. In finance I think its standard for negative numbers to be in brackets i...
- Jun 30, 2023
You may change Windows regional settings as here Negative numbers aren't showing with parentheses in Excel - Microsoft Support
Alternatively apply first negative numbers with Red format. Select cells again, Ctrl+1->Number->Custom
and here change text after semicolon on
You may remove [Red] if prefer default color.
SergeiBaklan
Jun 30, 2023MVP
You may change Windows regional settings as here Negative numbers aren't showing with parentheses in Excel - Microsoft Support
Alternatively apply first negative numbers with Red format. Select cells again, Ctrl+1->Number->Custom
and here change text after semicolon on
You may remove [Red] if prefer default color.
Deb_Stojkovic
May 19, 2024Copper Contributor
In custom the bracket formula is not available and I have gone to clock setting and changed to ( ). changing negative numbers to brackets is not available under any of the categories in the home>number tab
- SergeiBaklanMay 19, 2024MVP
Sorry, I didn't catch. We have pre-defined number formats which depend on regional settings. And we have custom number format which we construct ourselves.
Yes, red and brackets are not predefined, but it's not necessary to add such format in regional settings as default one. We may use custom number format like
- Deb_StojkovicMay 20, 2024Copper Contributor
I do not have any options to select any type that shows (#,0.00 ) or anything with brackets even in the custom settings. My clock is set to show negative as brackets. Where else would I find that formula to add to my excel or what else can I try?
- SergeiBaklanMay 20, 2024MVP
On which Excel platform you are ? (Windows, Android, etc)
In general, when you select Custom on the left you may type on the right bar any text, or select from the bottom of it one was typed before.