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David Denkenberger's avatar
David Denkenberger
Copper Contributor
Nov 13, 2018

Many numbers go to date format

How can I switch the default number format to general?

excel

5 Replies

  • Damien_Rosario's avatar
    Damien_Rosario
    Silver Contributor
    Nov 13, 2018

    Hi David Denkenberger

     

    If it's just a matter of changing from Date to General format, did selecting the column and changing the number format to General work?

     

    It may be that someone has changed the entire column to Date format by mistake.

     

    Cheers

    Damien

  • Wyn Hopkins's avatar
    Wyn Hopkins
    MVP
    Nov 13, 2018
    Before starting work on a sheet you could press Ctrl A to select all cells and then format as General via the Home > Number menu ?
    • David Denkenberger's avatar
      David Denkenberger
      Copper Contributor
      Nov 13, 2018

      Thanks for your quick response! That is a good idea for a new spreadsheet, but I am working on very large shared spreadsheets.

  • Haytham Amairah's avatar
    Haytham Amairah
    Silver Contributor
    Nov 13, 2018

    Hi David,

     

    The General format is the default number format, to reset your numbers to this format, just select them, then press Ctrl+Shift+~ .

     

    For more info, Please check out this https://support.office.com/en-us/article/reset-a-number-to-the-general-format-f71c3094-4231-408b-aef9-2f9506fa3021.

     

    Regards

    • David Denkenberger's avatar
      David Denkenberger
      Copper Contributor
      Nov 13, 2018

      Thanks for your quick response! However, I don't want to have to change the format afterward. For some reason the default got changed to date, so when I type a number in like 41, it goes to a date.

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