Excel Basics #13: Percentage Number Format

The Excel Basics Series shows a systematic description of what Excel can do from beginning to end.
#13 Video topics:
1)Learn how to not get tricked Percent Number Formatting!
2)3.00% is really the number 0.03 to Excel
3)Learn to format as you type
4)See that 3 and 0.03 are not the same number!

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Excel
• Format
• Cells
• Dialog
• Box
• Percentage
• Number
• format
• Formatting
• Mike
• Gel
• Girvin
• Highline
• Community
• College

[minesungte]

you're Great!

[ExcelIsFun]

@minesungte , I am glad that you like the video!

[George19881988]

Thank you for explaining this, I've been Googling for ages and found nothing. Now I can display my formatted cells as a percent just by dividing the other cells by 100! :-)

[ExcelIsFun]

You are welcome! I am glad that the video helped!

[dabruna]

Is there any solution if I want to insert a number and receive this number formatted with the percentage simbol "%" after it, avoiding that excel writes me the number mulptiplying it for 100 ?

Regards

[ExcelIsFun]

Yes, if you want 5.00% in the cell, just type 5.00%. This will put the number 0.05 in the cell and format it with the Percentage Number format 5.00%. In the cell is 0.05 and ontop of the cell for us to "see" is 5.00%. With Excel you never have to multiply by 100.

[gemmation]

So when the cell is pre-formatted, typing .03 gets you 3%. I see that if I type 0.03 (zero before the decimal point) I can force it to give me 0.03%. Or I suppose you could also type .0003, but that's beginning to feel awkward.

Anyway, thanks so much for all these great videos. I love how into short-cuts you are, and the fact that you narrate your key-presses is really helping me to learn them.

[ExcelIsFun]

Maybe global settings:

Control Pannel, Regional and Language Settings.

[549606]

Good video. I can't use .03 to make 3% theres something wrong with my configuration. It worked only with ,03 .

How can change to work with point and with comma?

[ExcelIsFun]

Dear slaves2sin,

It may be weird, but remember, when you preformatted then type .03, the % sign does not pop up; but if you type 3, the % symbol pops up. So those two different signals are your clues to how Excel will handle it.

I will tell you, slaves2sin, if you keep watching the videos and keep studying as much as you are, you are going to be one great Excel Master!

--excelisfun