Excel: convert text to numbers - how it works
If you enter a number in Excel, you can also define it as text. However, for Excel to be able to make correct calculations, numbers must be declared accordingly. If you work with an Excel file in which numbers have been defined as text, there are options to convert them back into effective numbers.
Convert text to numbers with troubleshooting
If you enter a number in a cell defined as text, Excel displays this as an error with a small green triangle in the top left of the cell. The quickest way to fix this is:
- Select the cell with the left mouse button.
- Click the exclamation mark to the right of the cell that appears when you select it.
- Now select the sub-item "Convert to a number". Incidentally, this also works with multiple cells: Simply select all the cells whose content you want to convert and go through steps 1 to 3.
These instructions refer to Excel 2013. For further formatting options in Excel: Conditional formatting