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Beginner13 min3 / 27

Number formats and cell formatting

Learn to show numbers as manat, percentages and dates, and make a table easy to read with fonts, colours, borders and alignment.

Check yourself
In this lesson you will learn
  • Apply currency, percentage and date formats
  • Understand that a format changes only the look, not the value
  • Design a table with fonts, fill, borders and alignment

Leyla tracks a small shop's sales in Excel. Her table contains numbers like 1250.5 and 0.18, but it is hard to tell which is manat and which is a percentage. After formatting, the same cells show 1,250.50 ₼ and 18% — the numbers stay the same, they are just readable at a glance.

Number formats

Formats live in the Home › Number group. Its drop-down list offers General, Number, Currency, Accounting, Short Date, Percentage, Text and more. The buttons next to it apply common ones in one click: Percent Style, Comma Style, Increase Decimal and Decrease Decimal. Every option is on the Number tab of the Format Cells dialog, which opens with Ctrl+1.

FormatValue in the cellWhat you see
General1250.51250.5
Number (2 decimals, thousands separator)1250.51,250.50
Currency (₼ symbol)1250.51,250.50 ₼
Percentage0.1818%
Short Date4629227.09.2026 (US settings: 9/27/2026)
Text05012345670501234567
Decimal and thousands separators depend on your Windows regional settings.
  1. 1
    Select the cells

    Select the price column, for example C2:C20.

  2. 2
    Open Format Cells

    Press Ctrl+1 and choose the Currency category on the Number tab.

  3. 3
    Set the symbol and decimals

    Set Decimal places to 2, pick the ₼ symbol in the Symbol list and click OK.

Text
#,##0.00 "₼"
Alternative: type this custom format under Format Cells › Number › Custom — the number is shown with two decimals and the manat sign.

Font, alignment and borders

  • Home › Font — font and size, bold (Ctrl+B), italic (Ctrl+I), underline (Ctrl+U), Borders, Fill Color (cell colour) and Font Color (text colour).
  • Home › Alignment — align text left, centre, right, top or bottom, Wrap Text (split long text over several lines inside the cell) and Merge & Center (join cells).
  • To change a column's width, drag the boundary between the headings; double-click it to fit the content. If a cell shows #####, the number simply does not fit in the column.
  • Home › Styles › Cell Styles — ready-made styles such as Heading 1, Good, Bad and Neutral. To remove formatting: Home › Editing › Clear › Clear Formats.

Formatting shortcuts

Open the Format Cells dialogCtrl+1
Currency format (your regional currency, 2 decimals)Ctrl+Shift+$
Percentage format, no decimalsCtrl+Shift+%
Number with a thousands separator and 2 decimalsCtrl+Shift+!
Back to the General formatCtrl+Shift+~
Add an outline border around the selectionCtrl+Shift+&
Interactive
Loading simulation…
Practise the shortcuts: read the task and press the right keys.

Key points

  • Number formats are in the Home › Number group and in the Format Cells dialog (Ctrl+1).
  • A format changes only the look; calculations use the real value in the cell.
  • 0.18 in percentage format shows as 18%; applying it to 18 gives 1800%.
  • ##### means the column is too narrow — double-click its boundary.
  • Format Painter copies formatting; use Center Across Selection instead of merging.

Check yourself

10 questions. Every correct answer earns XP.

1 / 10
A cell contains 0.18. What do you see after applying Percent Style?