Stop auto correction of number into a date

Anonymous

When i work with excel, i do data entry, some of the numbers that i type in can be interpenetrated as dates. when this happens excel automatically changes the format of the cell from general, to date. i want to be able to stop this auto correction.

I know there are a number of ways to avoid this happening, but i am fed up with these methods. i simply what to turn the auto correct off, so that instead of what i type into the cell changing, what i type into the cell shows exactly what i typed in.

really hope there is someone out the who knows how to do this.

thanks

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Anonymous

If you format the cells as Text, all entries will be entered as text

(leading zeroes will be retain, date-like values won't be converted to dates, etc)

...CTRL+1 (to view the formatting dialog window)

...Select: Number_tab...Category: Text

That should resolve most (but not all) of the problem.

Does that work for you?

Ron Coderre

Microsoft MVP - Excel (2006 - 2010)

P.S. If any post answers your question, please mark it as the Answer (so it won't keep showing as an open item.)

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Anonymous

Tim

I understand your frustration but this is not an autocorrect issue.

Typing in 1/5 will automatically be recognised as a date as that is what it is unless... you signify that it is a formula and you expect the answer 0.2 to appear or it is a text item in which case you must preceed the data with a ' apostrophy.

In signifying the that the item is text you will have a data item which is left aligned, as all text is by default. All other items in this column (even if purely numeric such as product codes) should aligned left. Product codes though numeric should never be treaded like numbers, if you do, then expect issues. Telephone numbers are similarly not true numbers, if they were treated as such, leading zeros would be dropped.

Though the whole idea of having to type in that extra character of ' is a pain to remember, it will make your data more acurate, reliable and portable.

Pat PS If you found this useful please vote. Thank you:¬)

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311 additional answers

Anonymous

2012-08-21T14:07:49+00:00
the easiest way to do this is:
1. set up a default worksheet template and save the template in the XLSTART directory of your computer. It will be saved as "Book1.xltm"
Every computer is different so use search to find this folder and you will be happier if you make a shortcut to this directory on your desktop.

then save all the default formats you like (like your most commonly used number format for every cell or gridlines on, or horizontal format.....etc.) in the "Book1.xltm" workbook. You keep customizing it.

Now everytime excel creates a new notebook it start with YOUR default format and not MICROSOFTS most annoying defaults.
1. Excel 2010 is a pain in that you cannot set sheet formats the same way (excel 2003 & 2007 allow this); Here is the work around: record a macro that simply insert sheets with all your formats; give it a useful name like "InsertSheet_MyFormat" or "InsertSheet_Format7". Then instead of inserting sheets with F11 or the tab insert, you click on this macro from your developer tab to insert a new sheet. The worksheets now have your defaults
3) if you want this macro available in every workbook, then create a workbook "personnel.xlsm"

and store your macros in this file. Save the file in the XLSTART directory; then this file opens first whenever you enter excel.
1. if you ever want to enter dates, then block those cells and format in your favorite date format
good luck.
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Anonymous

2012-08-21T14:58:11+00:00

The simplest solution to defeating this annoying date feature is

1)      Save your workbook defaults in the workbook template file “Book1.xtlm” in the XLSTART folder

a.       Search for the XLSTART folder in explorer; every computer is different

b.      Paste a shortcut to the XLSTART folder on your desktop (you will thank me)

c.       You will probably edit all the defaults several times; number format, gridlines on, horizontal display etc..; so the desktop shortcut helps

2)      Since you cannot create a worksheet template file in 2010 (you can in 2003 & 2007); then record a macro to insert sheets with your defaults

a.       Give it a useful name like “InsertSheet_MyDefaults1”;

b.      so record macro, give it name, F11, select all, select your formats (number, etc…); stop recording

3)      Now when you want to enter dates instead of numbers you should block reformat the cells and format them to the date format you like best

a.       You could record a macro for that as well

4)      Store all your macros in “personnel.xlsm” and save in XLSTART

a.       If all your macros are in this folder in XLSTART; then they are available to every sheet when you enter excel; once again the desktop shortcut helps

Good luck
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Anonymous

2012-09-12T15:14:43+00:00

The big problem here is that values are changed when sorted and can not be restored. I manage a lot of GIS data and must exchange between different data types. If I create a *.csv from a *.txt file and open it in Excel my values are automatically changed.

For example, a value "04-32" becomes "Apr-32" when sorted and after which if formatted as text (poor workaround) the value becomes "11780". My original data is lost. When is April 32 this year?

My real question is: How do I get Excel to not automatically change cell data?
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