CODEWITHSUNDEEP
excel
Nick Petrie
Nick Petrie

Reputation: 5598

Excel: Achieve the effect for a column of going into each cell and hitting enter

I have an Excel file with a column of 12-digit UPC codes. These are showing in scientific notation. I formatted the column as text, but nothing changed except the scientific value numbers moved to the left side of the cell. However, when I click into one of those cells (or press F2) and then hit enter, the number changes to text, and correctly displays the full 12-digit UPC.

Is there any way to achieve the effect of going into each one of these cells and pressing enter so that it gets rid of the scientific notation and uses the "text" format that I set? Could I use a helper column to do this in another way?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 1792

Answers (1)

barry houdini
barry houdini

Reputation: 46371

Formatting as text doesn't work if you do it after the values are already there. Try using "Text to columns" functionality. Select your column and then......

Data > Text to columns > Next > Next

At step 3 under "column data format" select "Text" > Finish

Upvotes: 5

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