Simple Format Cell problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sam Wang
  • Start date Start date
S

Sam Wang

If I copy a big number into a cell, it won't get the full number.

For example, I copy the number 8888888888888888, paste it into a cell under
Excel.

The cell will display as 8.88889E+15 by default.

Then, if I format the cell using Number with decimal place at 0, it will
display as 8888888888888880.

No matter what the last digit is, it will be replaced with 0.

Is that a bug or something else I could do?

Thanks.
 
XL's specifications (see Help) limit precision to 15 decimal digits.

If you're trying to do math manipulation, you'll have to use a
workaround. There are several add-in packages out there that advertise
up to 200 digits. Check the archives:

http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search?q=group:*excel*

Most of the time, a 16 digit number is being used as a credit-card
number, a part number, etc., which doesn't require that math operations
be done on them.

In that case, preformatting the cell as Text, or prefixing the number
with an apostrophe (') will cause XL to treat the number as a text
string, which can be up to 32,767 characters long.
 
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