Long numbers are displayed incorrectly in Excel

  • Article
  • Applies to:
    Excel 2010, Microsoft Office Excel 2007, Microsoft Office Excel 2003

Symptoms

After you enter a long number (such as a credit card number) in an Excel cell, the number is not displayed correctly in Excel. For example,

An example for a long number that's not shown correctly in Excel.

Note

Default number format in Excel is General therefore you can display up to 11 digits in a cell.

Workaround

To work around this issue, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Format the cell as text

To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Right-click target cell, and then click Format Cells.

    Format a cell as text by selecting the Format Cells.

  2. On the Number tab, select Text, and then click OK.

    Select the Text under the Number tab in the Format Cells dialog box.

  3. Then type a long number. (Be sure to set the cell format before you type the number)

    Type a long number.

  4. If you do not want to see the warning arrows, click the small arrow, and then click Ignore Error.

    Select Ignore Error if you don't want to see the warning arrows.

    The result of method 1.

Method 2: Use a single quotation mark

When you enter a long number, type a single quotation mark (') first in the cell, and then type the long number.

For example, type '1234567890123456789 and the quotation mark will not be displayed after you press ENTER.

Add a single-quotation mark before typing a long number.

Format numbers as text in Excel for Mac

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