Custom cell format

Excel 2016 2013 2010 2007 2003
Excel includes a variety of built-in formats that cover general, numeric, currency, percentage, exponential, date, time, and custom numeric formats. You can also design custom formats based on one of the built-in formats.
Format Cells example in Excel 365

To define a custom format, follow these steps:

   1.    Enter sample text for the format in a cell, and then select that cell (Excel then displays the sample text in the new format, which helps see the effects of your changes).

   2.    Do one of the following:

  • Right-click on the selection and choose Format Cells... in the popup menu:
    Format cells in popup menu Excel 365
  • On the Home tab, in the Number group, click the dialog box launcher:
    Format cells in Excel 365
  • Press Ctrl+1.

   3.    In the Format Cells dialog box:

  • On the Number tab, in the Category box, select the Custom item:
    Format Cells in Excel 365
  • In the Type list box, select the custom format you want to base your new custom format. Excel displays the details for the type in the Type text box.
  • If the details for the type extend beyond the Type text box, double-click in the Type text box to select all its contents, issue a Copy command (for example, press Ctrl+C), and then paste the copied text into a text editor, such as Notepad. (For a shorter type, you can work effectively in the Type text box. For a longer type, it's easier to have enough space to see the whole type at once.)
  • Enter the details for the four parts of the type, separating the parts from each other with a semicolon:
    • If you write formats with conditions such as [< 1000] and [≥ 1000], the format for the calculated condition is applied,
    • Otherwise:
      • If you write two formats, the first applies to positive and zero values and the second applies to negative values
      • If you write three formats, the first applies to positive values, the second to negative values, and the third to zero
      • If you write four formats, they apply to positive, negative, zero, and text values, respectively:

      <positive>; <negative>; [zero]; [text]

  • If you're working in a text editor, copy what you typed and paste it into the Type text box. Check the sample text to make sure it seems to be correct.
  • Click the OK button.

Codes for custom number formats

Code Description
General Displays the number in general format.
# Displays only significant digits and does not display insignificant zeros.
0 (zero) Displays insignificant zeros if a number has fewer digits than the zeros in the format.
? Displays a space for insignificant zeros on either side of the decimal point so that the decimal points align when formatted in a fixed-width font.

It can also be used for fractions with different numbers of digits.

. Decimal point.
% Percent symbol.
, Thousand separator.
E-, E+, e-, e+ Scientific notation.
$, -, +, /, (, ), :, space Displays this character.
* Repeats the next character to fill the full width of the column:
Custom cell format in Excel 365
_ (underscore) Leaves a space equal to the width of the next character.
“text” Displays text enclosed in double quotes.
@ Text placeholder.
[color] Displays characters in the specified color – black, blue, cyan, green, magenta, red,  white , or  yellow .
[condition value] Custom criteria for each number format section.

See also this tip in French: Format de cellule personnalisé.

Please, disable AdBlock and reload the page to continue

Today, 30% of our visitors use Ad-Block to block ads.We understand your pain with ads, but without ads, we won't be able to provide you with free content soon. If you need our content for work or study, please support our efforts and disable AdBlock for our site. As you will see, we have a lot of helpful information to share.