Importing Problem? Change Text to Numbers!

Many of us have occasions where we are importing files that were not created in Excel. Usually this causes no problems, but once in a while when you import from other sources, your numeric values may appear to be numbers, but they act like text!

Happily, this is easily solved by converting the values into numbers. To resolve this problem, simply do the following:

1. Click a blank cell in the worksheet, and Type the Number 1 in the cell

2. Right-click, (“Right-click is Our Friend”), and Copy the cell with the number 1 in it

3. Select the range that contains the values you are converting to numbers

4. Right-click and choose Paste Special

5. On the Paste Special menu, click Multiply, and then click OK

So how do you know if you have been successful? Well, you can set up a simple function to see if the values now act as numbers, or you can check out the alignment of the numbers in the cells. If you are using a common format, the numbers will be aligned on the right and the text values will be aligned on the left.

Importing from a source other than Excel? Keep this little trick in mind, and Easily Convert your Values to Numbers! Rock On!