Combine an Excel custom format with data validation and remove the pressure for input perfection from personnel by letting Excel do the work.

When you type a seven-or-ten-digit phone number into an Excel cell that uses the phone number format, Excel will automatically change the way the number looks so that it appears as a phone number ...

However, if you paste a differently formatted date, Excel accepts the source formatting. To further complicate the situation, Excel changes the format of the target cell to that of the pasted value!

To format these numbers, you just need to remember to follow this format: formatting for positive number; formatting for negative number; formatting for 0. To use colors, Excel has a handful built in: ...

How to Change a Cell's Number Format to Currency or Accounting First, select the cells, rows, or columns containing the financial values. Then, click the number format drop-down menu in the Number ...

Use Excel's conditional formatting feature to look at a specific cell in the row, determine if it's negative or positive and format the row based on the results.

Excel tables have many benefits that regular spreadsheets lack. The biggest is the option to use data from multiple tables to create queries and reports.