How To Convert Number To Text In Excel

There are a lot of times that you need to convert numbers to text in excel. For example, sometimes you need to combine a number with other text, and sometimes you need to search part of a number. In these cases, you need to convert numbers to text. This article will tell you some methods of how to convert numbers to text in excel with examples.

1. Convert Number To Text Use Excel TEXT Function.

1. The excel TEXT(numeric_value, decimal_digits_count) function is used to convert a numeric value to a text value.
2. The TEXT function has 2 parameters, the first parameter is the numeric value, and the second parameter is the number of decimal digits.
3. For example, =TEXT(898.98,”0″) will return 899 which contains 0 decimal digits, and =TEXT(898.98, “0.0”) will return 899.0 which contains only one decimal digit, and =TEXT(898.98,”0.00″) will return 898.98.
4. If you want to return all the decimal digits of the number value, you can pass the keyword “General” to the TEXT function like this =TEXT(898.98, “General”).
5. In the real scenario, we always use the TEXT function like this =TEXT(A2, “General”) and cell A2 contains a numeric value.
6. But the above action only put the formula =TEXT(A2,”General”) to the cell content, it will not put the number’s text value in the cell.
7. Then when you click the Home —> Find & Select —> Find… menu item to search part of the number text, you can not find it in the cell, because the cell only contains the formula =TEXT(A2,”General”).
8. Select the cell that contains the formula =TEXT(A2,”General”), then press Ctrl + C to copy it.
9. Then click the Home —> Paste —> Paste Special… menu item to open the Paste Special dialog window.
10. Select the Values radio button in the Paste Special dialog Paste area.
11. Click the OK button to save the changes.
12. Now you can find the cell’s content is a text version of the number, not a formula, and you can search the cell content with the part of the number.
13. And there is a small green triangle on the top left corner of the cell, which means the cell’s value is a number’s text version.

2. Convert Number To Text Use Excel Format Cells Options.

1. Select the cell range that you want to format the number content to text.
2. Right-click the above cell range, then click the Format Cells… menu item in the popup menu list.
3. Click the Number tab on the popup Format Cells dialog window.
4. Click the Text item from the Category: item list.
5. Click the OK button to save the changes.

3. Convert Number To Text By Adding Apostrophe.

1. There is a quick method to convert numbers to text in excel.
2. Double click the cell, and move the mouse pointer to the beginning of the number.
3. Type one apostrophe ( ‘ ) before the number and press the Enter key.
4. You can find a small green triangle on the top-left corner of the cell.
5. This means the cell data is a text that is converted from a number.

4. Convert Number To Text Use The Text to Columns Menu.

1. Select the cells that contain the number value.
2. Click the Data tab —> Text to Columns ( in Data Tools group ) button.
3. It will open the Convert Text to Columns Wizard.
4. Select the Fixed width radio button in the Original data type area.
5. Click the Next button to go to the next wizard.
6. Create the break line in the Data preview pane to break down the text into multiple columns.
7. Click the Next button to go to the next wizard.
8. Select the Text radio button in the Column data format area.
9. Click the Finish button, then you can find all the cells has a small green triangle on the top-left corner of the cell.
10. That means the cell’s content has been converted from number value to text value.

5. Conclusion.

1. There are 4 methods to convert numbers to text in excel, you can select the one that meets your requirement.
2. When a number has been converted into text format, the excel cell will add a small green triangle on the top-left corner.