Number formats in Grid by Zaweba, from currency to custom

The same value can look like 0.175, 17.5%, 17.50 or 7/40. A number format decides which, without changing the value underneath. In Grid by Zaweba you set formats from the number-format box and buttons on the ribbon for the common cases, and from the Number tab of Format Cells for everything else.

The quick route on the ribbon

The number-format box on the ribbon offers the everyday choices, and the buttons beside it handle currency, percentage, thousands separators and adding or removing decimal places. That covers most of what a budget, price list or timesheet needs. Select a whole column before you format it, so new entries arrive looking right.

Every category in Format Cells

Press Ctrl+1 to open Format Cells and go to the Number tab. Every category is there: general, number, currency, accounting, date, time, percentage, fraction, scientific, text and custom. Pick one and its options appear, with a sample of how the selected cell will look.

The text format deserves a special mention. Cells set to text keep exactly what you type, which matters for phone numbers, product codes and anything with leading zeros that a number format would drop. Set the format before typing; changing it afterwards won't bring back zeros that are already gone.

Custom codes

When no ready-made format fits, write your own in the custom category. A live sample shows the result as you type the code, so you can experiment safely. Grid follows the standard rules for format codes, which means codes you've used elsewhere work here too.

A code can have up to four sections separated by semicolons, for positive numbers, negative numbers, zero and text. That lets you show negatives in brackets, or zero as a dash or blank. Colours can be named in a section, so losses show in red. Conditions in square brackets apply a section only when a value meets a test, which is how you'd show values over a thousand with a "k" and smaller ones in full.

Other parts of the code language handle more specialised jobs. Elapsed time shows hours beyond 24, which a timesheet needs when totalling a week. Fractions display values like 3 1/4 for measurements. Scientific notation keeps very large or small numbers readable. A question mark in place of a digit pads with a space, so decimal points line up in a column. A comma at the end of the number part scales the value by a thousand, which tidies a report in thousands without dividing every figure. Long date formats follow your locale, so month and day names read naturally.

Format versus value

The most important thing to remember is that a format only changes what you see. A cell showing 3.14 may hold 3.14159, and a total of displayed values can look a penny out. When the stored value needs to be rounded, use ROUND in the formula. And when a number needs to sit inside a sentence, use the TEXT function, which takes the same format codes and returns formatted text.

If you see #### in a cell, the number simply doesn't fit at that width. Widen the column or use AutoFit, and the value appears.

Keeping a workbook consistent

Use the format painter to copy a number format from one cell to others, or set up a cell style on the Home tab so headings, totals and inputs always look the same. Formats are saved in the workbook and travel with it as .xlsx. Good number formats are small things, but in Grid by Zaweba they're what makes a sheet look finished and easy to read.