Excel provides a special number format that lets you format a number as a phone number. For example, you can format a 10-digit number, such as 5555551234, as (555) 555-1234.

  1. Select the cell or range of cells that you want to format. How to select cells or ranges?

  2. On the Home tab, click the Dialog Box Launcher next to Number.

    Dialog Box Launcher in Number group

  3. In the Category box, click Special.

  4. In the Type list, click Phone Number.

Tip: To see the number format code for the Phone Number format, click the Custom category, and look in the Type box. For example, the code [<=9999999]###-####;(###) ###-#### is used to display the phone number (555) 555-1234. If the predefined phone number format doesn't meet your needs, you can use it as a starting point to create your own custom format. For more information, see Create or delete a custom number format.

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