I am entering figures into Excel. How do I stop it from leaving symbols such as % and £ after deletion?

Question

I am entering figures into Excel.

At one point, by mistake, I put a £ sign before the figure and then pressed enter. I then deleted the £ sign - but it put it back in.

The same is true of the % sign.

Excel seems to be assuming now that every figure I type into that particular cell is a %. How can I stop this from happening - other than deleting the entire row or column and then reinserting a blank row and putting all the figures in again?

And why is this unbelievably infuriating thing happening?

Answer 1

right click on the affected cell, select "format cells", in the popup menu, click on "number" tab. Select "General" then click "ok". done

Answer 2

Yes, you are correct, that Excel did format the cell(s) that you placed your symbols into.

If it is just a particular cell, just highlight the cell and right-click. Select Format Cells, and click the Number Tab (if it is not the default upon opening). Then just choose your option. It also shows you the format of how the number will appear in the Sample box, as you click on each option in the list.

If it is an entire row or column then just highlight the entire row or column prior to selecting Format Cells.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

YOu may have deleted the contents of the cells but what you did not do was change the formatting. In future, rather than deleting simply the contents, do right button on either column or row and delete the whole column/row, not just the contents. To format, highlight relevant cells, right button of mouse, format cells, number and change appropriately.

Answer 4

Highlight the cells (or the whole sheet)then press Crtl+1 to open the cell format dialog box. On the first tab pick general (top of the list) to remove the other formating.



You can also highlight and click on the comma in the standard toolbar to change to comma style which is basicly the same as general (no% or £ format).

Answer 5

Yes, your cell is formatted as currency or percentage. You need to format it otherwise. Select the cells you want to reformat. Click "Format">>"Cells" and click on the tab "Number" in the dialog.



There, you can select either "Number" or "General" as a format and it will fix what ailes ya. If you select "Number" (recommended), ensure that you note how many decimal places you'd like to see.

Answer 6

When you have deleted the numbers and £ then press space bar click on another cell it should be blank.

Answer 7

1. I had two answers deleted for not following the TOS when every single point in the TOS is irrelevant to my question. People think that a thumbs down isn't enough. 2. No. 3. No.

Answer 8

right click, format cells, number tab (should be the one which comesup first unless alredy formatted), general. this formats the cell, in the list you can see options like currency, which must be how your cells are formatted.

Answer 9

Format the cells to make them "general"

Answer 10

Select the cell or cells that you need to reset back to their original condition and then from the "Edit" menu, select "Clear" then "All" - that will reset all formats and also remove any borders and shadings that you may have put in.