How to convert numbers to text using Excel TEXT function and other options
This tutorial shows how to convert number to text in Excel 2016, 2013 and 2010. See how to accomplish the task with the Excel TEXT function and use number to string to specify the formatting. Learn how to change number format to text with the Format Cells… and Text to Columns options.
If you use Excel spreadsheets to store long and not so long numbers, one day you may need to convert them to text. There may be different reasons to change digits stored as numbers to text. Below you'll find why you may need to make Excel see the entered digits as text, not as number.
- Search by part not by the entire number. For example, you may need to find all numbers that contain 50, like in 501, 1500, 1950, etc.)
- It may be necessary to match two cells using the VLOOKUP or MATCH function. However, if these cells are formatted differently, Excel will not see identical values as matching. For instance, A1 is formatted as text and B1 is number with format 0. The leading zero in B2 is a custom format. When matching these 2 cells Excel will ignore the leading 0 and will not show the two cells as identical. That's why their format should be unified.
The same issue can occur if the cells are formatted as ZIP code, SSN, telephone number, currency, etc.
In this article I'll show you how to convert numbers to text with the help of the Excel TEXT function. If you are not so formula-oriented, have a look at the part where I explain how to change digits to text format with the help of the standard Excel Format Cells window, by adding an apostrophe and employing the Text to Columns wizard.
сonvert-number-to-text-excel-TEXT-function
Convert number to text using the Excel TEXT function
The most powerful and flexible way to convert numbers to text is using the TEXT function. It turns a numeric value into text and allows to specify the way this value will be displayed. It's helpful when you need to show numbers in a more readable format, or if you want to join digits with text or symbols. The TEXT function converts a numeric value to formatted text, thus the result cannot be calculated.
If you are familiar with using formulas in Excel, it will not be a problem for you to employ the TEXT function.
- Add a helper column next to the column with the numbers to format. In my example, it's column D.
- Enter the formula
=TEXT(C2,"0")to the cell D2. In the formula, C2 is the address of the first cell with the numbers to convert. - Copy the formula across the column using the fill handle.
- You will see the alignment change to left in the helper column after applying the formula.
- Now you need to convert formulas to values in the helper column. Start with selecting the column.
- Use Ctrl + C to copy. Then press the Ctrl + Alt + V shortcut to display the Paste Special dialog box.
- On the Paste Special dialog, select the Values radio button in the Paste group.
You will see a tiny triangle appear in the top-left corner of each cell in your helper column, which means the entries are now text versions of the numbers in your main column.
Now you can either rename the helper column and delete the original one, or copy the results to your main and remove the temporary column.
Note. The second parameter in the Excel TEXT function shows how the number will be formatted before being converted. You may need to adjust this based on your numbers:The result of
=TEXT(123.25,"0")will be 123.The result of
=TEXT(123.25,"0.0")will be 123.3.The result of
=TEXT(123.25,"0.00")will be 123.25.To keep the decimals only, use
=TEXT(A2,"General").Tip. Say you need to format a cash amount, but the format isn't available. For instance, you cannot display a number as British Pounds (£) as you use the built-in formatting in the English U.S. version of Excel. The TEXT function will help you convert this number to Pounds if you enter it like this:=TEXT(A12,"£#,###,###.##"). Just type the format to use in quotes -> insert the £ symbol by holding down Alt and pressing 0163 on the numeric keypad -> type #,###.## after the £ symbol to get commas to separate groups, and to use a period for the decimal point. The result is text!
Use the Format Cells option to convert number to text in Excel
If you need to quickly change the number to string, do it with the Format Cells… option.
- Select the range with the numeric values you want to format as text.
- Right click on them and pick the Format Cells… option from the menu list.
Tip. You can display the Format Cells… window by pressing the Ctrl + 1 shortcut. - On the Format Cells window select Text under the Number tab and click OK.
You'll see the alignment change to left, so the format will change to text. This option is good if you don't need to adjust the way your numbers will be formatted.
Add an apostrophe to change number to text format
If these are just 2 or 3 cells in Excel where you want to convert numbers to string, benefit from adding an apostrophe before the number. This will instantly change the number format to text.
Just double-click in a cell and enter the apostrophe before the numeric value.
You will see a small triangle added in the corner of this cell. This is not the best way to convert numbers to text in bulk, but it's the fastest one if you need to change just 2 or 3 cells.
Convert numbers to text in Excel with Text to Columns wizard
You may be surprised but the Excel Text to Columns option is quite good at converting numbers to text. Just follow the steps below to see how it works.
- Select the column where you want to convert numbers to string in Excel.
- Navigate to the Data tab in and click on the Text to Columns icon.
- Just click through steps 1 and 2. On the third step of the wizard, make sure you select the Text radio button.
- Press Finish to see your numbers immediately turn into text.
I hope the tips and tricks from this article will help you in your work with numeric values in Excel. Convert number to string using the Excel TEXT function to adjust the way your numbers will be displayed, or use Format Cells and Text to Columns for quick conversions in bulk. If these are just several cells, add an apostrophe. Feel free to leave your comments if you have anything to add or ask. Be happy and excel in Excel!
88 Responses to "How to convert numbers to text using Excel TEXT function and other options"
thanks, it saved my time a lot
Thank you for the feedback!
Excellent.Thank you for the tip.
Thank you, Walter! Glad that you found the article helpful.
The "Text to Columns" method is exactly what we needed. It works better than the Format Cells option because with numbers having lots of digits, Excel put them into Scientific Notation when formatting as text, and that was not at all what we wanted. And this method is simpler than using the Helper column. Thank you.
Thank you so much for your feedback, EileenK.
numeric to text converting formula
Hello, Pooja,
Please see this article, it should help:
https://www.ablebits.com/office-addins-blog/2013/08/29/convert-numbers-words-excel/
sir i want currency in text format for Exm:
"225........."Two hundred twenty five"
Please give me suitable answer for above question
Hello, Ravinder,
Please see the answer to your question in this article:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/213360
225........."Two hundred twenty five"
Please give me suitable answer for above question
Hello, Yogesh,
Please see the answer to your question in this article:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/213360
3256..........I want to "Thirty two hundred fifty six"
Please give me suitable answer for above question
Hello, Sunil,
Please see the answer to your question in this article:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/213360
Sir Pleas find ,
2053.00/=(TWO THOUSAND FIFTY THREE ) ON FORMULA EXCEL SHEET
Please advise what is the correct function to use to convert number value to text
Hello,
Please see the answer to your question in this article:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/213360
Your solution is not working when I closed excel than opening it again. How to set up still processing without opened not working?
Thank You Sir
You saved my lot of time.
Dear Sir/ Madam,
What their is any option to convert multiple column into text by using single method or option.
regards
radha krishna
Dear Radha,
For me to be able to help you better, please send me a sample table with your data in Excel and include teh result you want to get to support@ablebits.com
how to convert number to word text
like 2345 = Two thousand Three Hundred and Forty five only
Hello, Ranajit,
Please see the answer to your question in this article:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/213360
how to convert number to word text
like 2345 = Two thousand Three Hundred and Forty five only.
Hello, Ranajit,
Please see the answer to your question in this article:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/213360
symbols used to convert numbers to texts
Can somebody help me for following problem ?
I want to convert number to text in excel.
For example if I have 1000 in Cell A1, I need it in text in Cell A2 as Rupees One Thousand only.
Please help
Hello, Shivaraj,
Please see the answer to your question in this article:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/213360
I have a text '00123015004471215225' and would like to convert it to number, but after convert it using TEXT function or 'CONVERT TO NUMBER' cell option it convert it to number '123015004471215000' which is not correct. Please suggest.
Hello, Mayur,
Sorry, looks like there is no easy way to achieve this. I'm afraid we cannot help you with this task.
√ Numeric value will show if √ is shown in besides column
Thanks for the tip, super helpful!
I need to change one cell in a formula to text. How do I get it to ignore the text in the cell.
I will try this again. I have several spreadsheets that I am converting from Lotus to Excel. The spreadsheets then connect together to make master spreadsheets. I need to be able to explain a number at times, such as labeling it with a name. In Lotus, I was able to just pick a cell next to the cell to be explained and put text in. But in Excel it gives a #value error.
how to convert number to word text
like 2345 = Two thousand Three Hundred and Forty five only. in rupees
Hi srinivasan,
Please look at the following article, it should help:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/213360
Could you tell me why the excel won't change the number format even if I add an apostrophe in front of them? Is there anything else I should change in the options?
How to display a numeric value and a string in a excel cell ?
hello madam,
how to fixed excel sheet in value convert in word .
hi
How find the length of string For example in cell A1 Dilip sai001 is there so i want count for alphabets only ,if we use Len () means it will count space and numbers also So can u help me
Hi Dilip,
You should use the following formula:
=SUMPRODUCT(LEN(A1)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A1,{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0},"")))
can any body guide me how to fix the specific code for tex/name in excel sheet on typing the name we see the result of specified code in required column.
for example when i type "apple" and its code (100) appear in the required cell.
Hi ramzan,
Please show us how your data looks like.
Hi all
i'm creating xls doc using openofficexml epplus
i adding values in xls using ws.Cells("D1").value = 1234
i would like to get something like simple quote '1234 as description in "Add an apostrophe to change number to text format" with result 1234 in cell but '1234 in text zone
any idea ? is it a specific value ? formaula ?
thx
thanking you so much for this formulas
i want this thing in ms-excel
when i type 225 in a cell than two hundred and twenty five should come in other cell.
Thanks
Thanks very much. This saved me a lot of time as all the other conversion methods did not work for some reason :-) Happy New Year!
This article makes Excel bright. Thank you Maria.
Copy paste from word Actual Figers
1.11205E+15 1112053000152279
2.10705E+15 2107053000163925
5.10105E+15 5101053000292829
4.10405E+15 4104053000607538
9.99902E+12 9999024321252
3.11005E+15 3110053000081445
4.10305E+15 4103053000342622
1.21305E+15 1213053000146229
4.11705E+15 4117053000118075
2.10105E+15 2101053000222052
2.21005E+15 2210053000247300
2.11105E+15 2111053000194473
2.21205E+15 2212053000177567
1.12205E+15 1122053000179723
2.11005E+15 2110053000240877
how can i Solve this issue,
Im copying this figers PDF to Word then I'm copy this figers from word to Excel
Thank you so much for this. You saved my day. Now I can have cash and go to Spar.....Lol
Hi,
I have a column of 500 numbers, (1-25) in a column. Each number, 1-25 represents an industry.
Aerospace and Defense = 1
Automotive = 2
Banking = 4
I need to replace the numbers, 1-25, with the corresponding industry match.
How do I do this?
I want to convert costs into a letter code. Currently we use a system where every number 0-9 has a specific letter.
So, if the cost is 108344, that translates to a code of PXHRKK because the numbers above translate to the letters below:
1234567890
PARKEFGHIX
How can I automate this translation in Excel?
I have a large chunk of data directly extracted from SQL database where a column was previously VARCHAR[20]
This one column called NationalID randomly shows correct values and values converted to Short Format e.g. 2.55122E+11
Regular/Correct value format : 255122100995
Short/Invalid value format : 2.55122E+11
When I double click on the cell it shows me the
correct value 255122100995 instead of invalid value 2.55122E+11
I tried cloning it the the next blank column and converting it to text but still it shows the value only after double click. Since I have lakhs of rows to process I need a formulatory way out
Am a programmer so not much aware about how to go about this excel issue.
Kindly guide.
Sorry Just figured out the solution was Text To Columns as posted in above article. Got the answer.
is it possible to use a formula or conditional formatting to convert a number value into a text string. For example: I have a series of tasks assigned numbers 1 - 5. I'd like to have a text value display in the next column that if A1=1 then B1 would contain the text "submitted" and if A2 = 2 then B2 would contain the text "in progress", A3= 3, B2=support ticket issued... is this possible?
Hi,
from what you described, I believe you may find the IF function useful. Please take a look at this article to learn how you can apply it to your table.
Hope this helps!
Hi thanks for the tips. They are very helpful.
But my issue is that I have few numbers in which I need to add some zeros before them, and then convert to text.
For eg. 1234567 in number needs to be changed to 001234567 in text. I have a string of thousands of numbers like this. Kindly let me know if there is any shorcut in excel for doing this. Presently I use concatenate.
Thank You. This Helped.
Hi thanks for the solution it saved so much of time for all my colleagues when we are working with excel.
i would like to know how can i get day to day update of a particular company share price in excel by using a formula from goggle finance or money control.
This didn't work for me. I've tried absolutely everything and I cannot convert the numbers to stored text.
How to convert numeric value ???
I need to know how to input numerical data into a column and have it converted to word text. (Example.....if I type in 3, i want excel to convert it to the color white.) What formula or method do I need to use.
I need the formula of one value i put in one colums same value i need in another colums . ie. 1275 in one colums another colum one thousand two hundred seventy five only. Pls give me the formula.
Bejoy:
You need to use some VBA or a third party add-in. The VBA method is here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/213360/how-to-convert-a-numeric-value-into-english-words-in-excel
Can you plz give me a solution for this
Eg: What(4) do(2) you(3) want(4)
Hi,thank you very much for your the sharing. I have a case here which cannot be addressed by any of the methods above. I create a pivot and use "customer ID"(which is already transferred to text in backend data) as a pivot filter. But when I use the filter to vlookup the customer name(so that I can get the corresponding customer name when filter changes), it failed. I guess it's still due to the cell format but wonder how to fix it by using a formula. "=text(**,"@") " doesn't work.
There is a much easier and faster way to convert a column of numbers in text format to number format by using the data - text to columns function.
Suppose your column contains a number like this:
1'235'612.47
It will be recognised as "text" due to the apostrohes. Same thing if the number contains commas, like this:
1,235,612.47
All you need to do is click of the column, then click the data tab and the text to columns tab. Choose "deliminted". Un-check all the delimiters, like Tab, Semicolon, Comma, Space and so on. Click Next, then Advanced. In the boxes which appears, specify the thousands seperator which is being used by the text number. i.e. an apostrophe in the first case or a comma in the second. Click OK and Finish and all numbers are now in number format.
Glad I happened upon this Text to Columns solution to this issue! As a Microsoft Partner, please convey to Microsoft that the Text to Columns method is how the standard Format as Text should work!
For years I've been struggling with the best way to deal with the broken built-in method. I started teaching Excel usage over 25 years ago and have had a career of programming and I can't remember when this issue cropped up. It plagues all areas of data manipulation and transfer into and our of databases where Excel is used as an intermediary--suddenly Identification numbers are corrupted as Scientific Notation versions of the underlying string of numbers. I don't know why anyone, anywhere, would ever want numbers stored in a column along with text used solely as identifiers and not values, to suddenly switch to Scientific Notation when changing to text...if anything, the numeric display should be Scientific Notation if proper and reformatting a column to Text would automatically convert to the original string of numbers.
There should at least be some simple setting that the experts can make to make this bizarre action take place for those that think it has value and let the other 99.99% of the world be able to use Excel without tripping over this.
Thanks for listening...I hope you have a voice they'll hear.
Adam
I'm trying to link a cell that has a name in it to another sheet. The cell is actually words, not numbers, but I get either the formula or the number zero as if the cell is reading a formula instead of the words.
I've tried your solutions to convert numbers to text and it did not give me the name, only 0 or the formula.
Can you help?
first select the cell where you want to get the copied name type = and traverse to the sheet where the name is already present, click on that cell and press ENTER. drag the cell to get other names
You have save me from going bonkers! So many people do not export the numbers as text but I do and to convert to a number is such a challenge in a large file.
The text to column wizard is perfect!
Thank you thank you thank you
How would you make a spreadsheet read a letter to a number as in if I type in just the letter x in a cell it would automatically change it to -40?
Tibor:
You would use an IF THEN statement which would look like this:
=IF(A2="X",-40,"Something Else")
Which means If the value in A2 is x, then display -40 otherwise display something else.
The details on how these statements work and examples can be found here on AbleBits.
Thank you Doug,
I see what you are saying but how can I convert any cell in column A to equal -40 when typing in x? What you described does change it but only for that one cell where the formula is entered
Tibor:
You can copy the formula down the column. The A2 address will change automatically as you copy it down the column.
Highlight the cell then click and grab the little black box in the lower right-hand corner of the cell and drag it down the column.
The last way: "Convert numbers to text in Excel with Text to Columns wizard" -- is the best!!!
Additionally, it can work in reverse and in other ways!!! Superb!!!
Congrats!!! & Thx a lot!!! Artur
Thank you very much for your feedback, Artur! Glad to hear you enjoy using our add-in :)
Hi, need vba code for converting number to words ,have used spellnumber but I want the text only for number not for currency i.e 225 ( two hundred twenty five)please share with me
Hi,
want to add 20 numbers in A2(20numbers) & A3(20numbers) column and show the
result in A4
the result is accepting upto 15 numbers and remaining 5 numbers are displaying as 00000.
Thanks in Advance
hi can you please help ma that how can i change 11/1/1950 into 11-50
For e.g.: in cell A1 - 11/1/1950
=TEXT(A1,"dd-yy")
Ans: 11-50
Awesome very helpful
Thank you, this was very useful
Save me a lot of time
Hi,
I want to convert number to word, when I enter a value it doesn't work and the following line of the VB program gets highlighted:
Cents = GetTens(Left(Mid(MyNumber, DecimalPlace + 1) & _ "00", 2))
Please tell me what can I do to make it work?
Thank you.
Thank you so much.... great shortcut to convert Numbers to text...
i need a excel code for spell number in digt format like.. 1 as one only, 10 as one zero, 0 as zero only..
the 2nd option, changing the column to text *should* work, but idiot Excel has NEVER supported this, and continues to not support it. Example, put 1223123123 in the cell, format as text, and you will see the same reuslt: 1.22312E13 (Ok, I didn't count the digits, but EVERYONE LOVES Scientific notation, so much so that there is NOT freaking way to just select the column and say 'leave it the heck alone shit-for-brain's Microsoft' - been fighting this for decades now.
Your other options, making a column to convert the 'SKU' number that is 12 digits long to a Text might just work, I'll have to try that. I've in the past had to add a ' to the start of every dang line, and when there are 12,000 lines and all you freaking want to do is tell Excel to leave the dang thing Freaking ALONE, don't script leading 0's and are you kidding me with converting it to Scientific notation??