The TEXT function lets you change the way a number appears by applying formatting to it with format codes. It’s useful in situations where you want to display numbers in a more readable format, or you want to combine numbers with text or symbols.
Syntax
=TEXT(Value you want to format, "Format code you want to apply")Copy
Overview
In its simplest form, the TEXT function says:
- =TEXT(Value you want to format, “Format code you want to apply”)
Here are some popular examples, which you can copy directly into Excel to experiment with on your own. Notice the format codes within quotation marks.
| Formula | Description |
|---|---|
| =TEXT(1234.567,”$#,##0.00″) | Currency with a thousands separator and 2 decimals, like $1,234.57. Note that Excel rounds the value to 2 decimal places. |
| =TEXT(TODAY(),”MM/DD/YY”) | Today’s date in MM/DD/YY format, like 03/14/12 |
| =TEXT(TODAY(),”DDDD”) | Today’s day of the week, like Monday |
| =TEXT(NOW(),”H:MM AM/PM”) | Current time, like 1:29 PM |
| =TEXT(0.285,”0.0%”) | Percentage, like 28.5% |
| =TEXT(4.34 ,”# ?/?”) | Fraction, like 4 1/3 |
| =TRIM(TEXT(0.34,”# ?/?”)) | Fraction, like 1/3. Note this uses the TRIM function to remove the leading space with a decimal value. |
| =TEXT(12200000,”0.00E+00″) | Scientific notation, like 1.22E+07 |
| =TEXT(1234567898,”[<=9999999]###-####;(###) ###-####”) | Special (Phone number), like (123) 456-7898 |
| =TEXT(1234,”0000000″) | Add leading zeros (0), like 0001234 |
| =TEXT(123456,”##0° 00′ 00””) | Custom – Latitude/Longitude |
Example:
| Data | Formula | Result |
| 1526219 | =”Profit for the year ” & TEXT(A2, “#,##0”) & “/–“ | Profit for the year 1,526,219/– |