Display thousands without zeros


If you want to hide the zeros of values over 1000, but wish to retain the correct numerical value of the cell, follow these easy steps.

First, select the cells to be formatted, then choose Format*Cells. Click the Number tab. Select Custom from the Category list, and in the Type box enter 0, (that's a zero followed by a comma). When this number format is applied, the cells will retain the correct numerical values, but they will be displayed without the last three digits. To display values in millions, insert an additional comma at the end of the format string (0,,).

Another possibility is to display one or more decimal places -- for example, 52,100 as 52.1. To do this, include a decimal point in your format string (0.0,). You can also use these number formats in charts. To do so, double-click the chart axis to display the Format Axis dialogue box. Then click the Number tab and specify the desired format.

In Excel 2000, the Scale tab of the Format Axis dialogue box lets you specify the unit scaling directly. Just choose Millions from the "Display units" drop-down box.

Adjust subtotal formatting

Excel's Data*Subtotals command inserts subtotal formulae into a list. You may want to make the subtotal rows stand out by applying special formatting -- but this can't be done by any of Excel's autoformats. Use the outline controls on the left side of the workbook to collapse the outline so only the subtotal rows are visible. Press <F5>, select Visible cells only, and click OK. Then apply formatting to the selected cells. When you expand the outline, only the subtotal rows will have the formatting you applied.


Category:Spreadsheets
Issue: March 2000

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