Cell Format Problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rachel
  • Start date Start date
R

Rachel

I am a beginner Microsoft Excel '97 (Windows XP) user. I want to format a
cell to show a date as mm/dd/yy. For some reason my cell is not accepting
the format. I have selected the format I want to use and entered
12/23/2003. But what appears in my cell is 37978. I have played around
with it and tried everything I could think of. I think this might be a bug
in the program. Please help.

Thanks in advance,

Rachel
 
Thanks for the quick reply Frank. I had already tried to do what you
listed. Even when I select the format I want in dates- it does not work on
my spreadsheet. The Format/ Cells/ Date that I have selected does not apply
itself to my cell. Actually, no format selected works in the cell I am
using.

I have selected
Format
Cells
Date
03/04/97

Then I tried to type 12/23/03 in the cell but all that appears is 37978.
Has anyone out there experienced this problem before?

Thanks,
Rachel
 
Have you checked if the sheet is protected?
--

HTH,

RD
==============================================
Please keep all correspondence within the Group, so all may benefit!
==============================================

Thanks for the quick reply Frank. I had already tried to do what you
listed. Even when I select the format I want in dates- it does not work on
my spreadsheet. The Format/ Cells/ Date that I have selected does not apply
itself to my cell. Actually, no format selected works in the cell I am
using.

I have selected
Format
Cells
Date
03/04/97

Then I tried to type 12/23/03 in the cell but all that appears is 37978.
Has anyone out there experienced this problem before?

Thanks,
Rachel
 
Yes RagDyer- I have checked and it is not protected.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

- Rachel
 
To fix your problem

1. Open the spreadsheet you're have problems with

2. Highlight the cells you want to change

3. Go to the Menu bar <Tools/Options/View>

4. Uncheck Formulas.

;)
 
Wow Laser,

That's it! You found my problem. I must have accidentally clicked on
Formulas instead of Gridlines right below it in <Tools/Options/View>

Thanks for your help! You're a life saver. My boss was hassling me to get
this page right and now it's done!

; )

Rachel
 
Rachel said:
.. I must have accidentally clicked on
Formulas instead of Gridlines right below it in <Tools/Options/View>
Click to expand...

Or, you might have accidentally hit CTRL + ~
which toggles the Formula view on / off

~ is the tilde key, just above Tab key, to the left of "1" key
 
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