If you deal with customers or colleagues in Europe, often you may see numbers like this:
- 1.433.502,50
- 9.324,00
- 3,141593
When these numbers are pasted in Excel, they become text, because Excel can’t understand them.
Here is a simple way to convert the European numbers to regular ones.
Use NUMBERVALUE() Function.
How to convert European number formats with NUMBERVALUE() ?
Let’s say you have a European format number in cell A1, something like 1.433.502,50
Syntax of NUMBERVALUE():
NUMBERVALUE() takes 3 parameters.
- Number you want to convert
- Decimal separator
- Group separator
So, we can use =NUMBERVALUE(A1 , "," , ".") to convert number in A1 from European format.
Since , is the decimal point and . is the group separator in European format, NUMBERVALUE() returns 1433502.5
How to convert European number formats in earlier versions of Excel
NUMBERVALUE() is a new function added in Excel 2013. So if you are using an earlier version of Excel, then you need to come up with an alternative function. Here is one that works:
=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A1, "." , "" ), "," , ".")+0
How does this work?
- We first substitute all .s with nothing – Inner SUBSTITUTE
- Then we substitute , with . – Outer SUBSTITUE
- Then we add 0 to convert text to number
Convert regular numbers to European format
Let’s say for some reason you need convert numbers to European format. Here is one formula you can use:
=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(FIXED(A1,2,FALSE),".","$"),",","."),"$",",")
How it works?
FIXED(A1,2,FALSE)converts the number in A1 to a comma formatted number with 2 decimal pointsSUBSTITUTE(FIXED(...), ".", "$")replaces the decimal point with $ symbol (you can replace it with any symbol)SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(FIXED(...),...), "," ,".")replaces all the commas with .sSUBSTITUTE(...., "$", ",")replaces the $ with comma
More tips on number conversions in Excel
If you deal with data that needs conversion, check out below tips.
- Quickly convert numbers stored as text
- Extract numbers from text using VBA
- Splitting a number in to integer and decimal portions
- Presenting values in Indian currency format
How do you convert numbers to European format?
I never saw the NUMBERVALUE function until yesterday. I think it is a cool function to solve the format problem.
What about you? How do you convert numbers to / from European format (or back)? Please share your formulas in comments.
22 Responses to “Master Excel 2007 Ribbon with this Free Learning Guide”
Thank you, kind sir. Well done with the baby making.
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@Doug, it shows that your email address is pending verification. Can you check your inbox (and may be spam folder too) for an email from me? The subject will be "Activate Subscription to Get your Free Excel Tips E-book"
[...] PPS: If you are struggling with ribbon, you should check out ribbon learning guide. [...]
Very Useful Info..Keep it up..
@Ajay.. you are welcome 🙂
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http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx
Select Office
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I can't open this pdf. I get the error message:
You do not have the required license to open this file.
Please request a license from the creator of the file, and add it using the license manager and they try opening it again.
What gives??
I downloaded the file again and it worked this time. Strange. (First file was 116 KB, second was 1644 KB... ???)
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Hi Chandoo,
thanks for sharing your Excel 2007 learning experience with us; unfortunately the link to the pdf of the free Excel 2007 learning guide seems broken: my Acrobate Readers flags: "Unkown file type or corrupte data".
Have a nice day
Michael
well done this is great
Can somebody just provide a link the classic TAB exportedUI files for MS Office 2003 for us to use in office 2007/2010?. searching online, everybody just wnats to make a buck online with silly Classic Tab installers which do nothing more than inport exportedUI files for you.
Don't give me a ribbon how to guide, just give me free exportedUI files. I should not have to pay anyone for this, it is free XML, MS should have included this to begin with.
thanks
Dear.
There are a set of debit values and a set ot credit values in a column. I want a vba code by whcich the debit value plus a single / multiple credit value is zero that needs to be marked .
finally i will come to know out of the avaibale debits which cannot be used the with avilable credits either single or multiple values.
If multiple matching sets are available let it take the 1st or the 2nd one its not an issue.
Column A Ref
-1000 A
-5000 B
-8000 C
800 A
100 A
100 A
2000 B
3000 B
13000
15000
hi...
how to make this add-ins and display in ribbon... check this sample : http://www.cprsoft.com/GCDemo01.htm
thank you sir...
Please tell me format painter short cut key In excel ?
Thanks In Advance
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