Can anyone tell me how to remedy this, as I really am a novice with excel!

When I type in a date from 1999-2000 using 01-02 , I get a cell that appears as this: #### . I finally typed in 99 to 00 to illiminate the problem. But I KNOW that there is a key that you depress before filling in the cell to tell it that you are using numbers. Anyone know what I mean?

Thanks everyone! I KNOW that Georgia will know this!

Double click on the black line to the right of the cell with the pound signs.

LOL - If you havent gotten an answer by the time I get to work tomorrow I'll trouble shoot for you. I'm not sure I understand the question but I can tell you that if you are seeing #### in the cell that usually means the number entered is larger than the size of the cell. If you place you curser at the top of the page, on the line between the right of the populated cell and the next column, and double click, it will auto-size that column with the data in it and you will be able to see your numbers.

As for formatting numbers, it is on your menu under Format>Cells. If you want a date to appear as something like 01/02/1999 you will have to set a custom one. Under Format>Cells under the Number tab scroll down to Custom. In the box labeled "Type" put mm-dd-yyyy. Click OK. Then when you want your data to appear in that format just select the cell and format it selecting the mm-dd-yyyyy under the "custom" category.

Did any of this help?

Thanks guys. Although, my problem is sitting at work! I should have sent it to myself, at home, had I been thinking.

Georgia - I'm doing things for our fiscal year - which is June to May of the following year - therefore, my columns are named for the fiscal years. The first one is for the year of 1999 to 2000, so I've named it 99-00. The second one is 00-01. The third column is where the trouble began and I got the ####! When I went to format the cells and changed the date settings, the closest I got was when I type in 01-02 - it automatically changes to 01 February. grrrrrrrrrrr!! SO, the date format that I'm using is not in there.

I hope that you understand what I'm saying. I tried to enlarge the cell, but nothing seems to work.

I'm now thinking that in my original post, I used the " ' " key before entering into the cell, BUT that may be the command to tell it you are using "text" ! I'm getting confused! BUT, I'm a excellent driver!!!

If I can't ask this question properly, how on earth am I expected to get a proper answer????

Highlight the cells you want to put dates into. Right click on them, and go to Format Cells. On the list, click on Date. To the right you'll see a menu of date styles. Just pick the one you want!

To solve the size problem, what I usually do is click into any cell, then press Cnt+A. Then go to the toolbar, click Format, then Column, then move down to "Autofit Selection".

WOHOO! I just did a test.

When I type the ' and then the 01-02 in a cell, IT WORKS!!

LOLOL!! I wouldn't have figured that I could have actually got it unscrambled in my wee head!

Thanks everyone for helping out here!

quote:

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Originally posted by Georgia85:
If you place you curser at the top of the page, on the line between the right of the populated cell and the next column, and double click, it will auto-size that column with the data in it and you will be able to see your numbers.

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Did you do this, Tree? That's what I meant to say. See the row of letters in boxes. Double click on the line to the right, in that row, of the column you want enlarged. It's the line separating two letter boxes. You should see a bar with two arrows sticking out on either side.

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Ah. Too late. Hurray then!

LOLOL thanks, jusork! You are such a sweetie!

Aw. *blush*

Glad you figured it out Tree. Especially since all three of us gave you the same info but worded differently

Remember, there will be times when you are going to have to add your own custom format, especially where dates are concerned. That's why I included the above directions on how to add a custom format.