Format Numbers as Currency, Percent and Dates in Excel

To format numbers in Excel, select the cells and press a shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+$ for currency, Ctrl+Shift+% for percent and Ctrl+Shift+# for dates. On a Mac, the same shortcuts use Control (⌃), not Command. Formatting changes how a number looks, never the number itself. This guide covers each format, the Mac keys, and the mistakes that make numbers look wrong.

How to format numbers in Excel with shortcuts#

Select the cells first, then press the shortcut. These work in Excel for Windows and Mac. On a Mac, hold Control, not ⌘, for the number formats.

$ is Shift+4, % is Shift+5, # is Shift+3 and ! is Shift+1, so you're really pressing Ctrl+Shift and a number key. The currency symbol comes from your computer's region settings, so you may see £, € or another symbol instead of $.

Formatting changes the look, not the value#

A number format is a mask: the cell shows one thing, but Excel keeps the exact value underneath. Click a cell and the formula bar shows what's really stored.

For example, a growth rate of 0.045 formatted as percent shows 5%, because the percent shortcut shows no decimals. The formula bar still says 0.045 (4.5%), and every formula uses 0.045.

This matters when numbers don't seem to add up. If three cells each show 33% but their total shows 100%, the real values are 0.333… each, and the total is right. To actually change a value, round it with a function. See ROUND, ROUNDUP and ROUNDDOWN.

How to format numbers as currency#

Select the cells and press Ctrl+Shift+$ (⌃⇧$ on a Mac). On Windows, this Currency format shows two decimal places, a thousands separator and negative numbers in parentheses.

After Ctrl+Shift+$, B2 shows $184,200.00 and B4 shows the negative as ($2,500.00). The values are still 184200 and -2500.

There's also an Accounting format on the Home tab. It lines up the currency symbols and decimal points down a column, which some finance teams prefer.

How to format percentages correctly#

Press Ctrl+Shift+% (⌃⇧% on a Mac). Percent format multiplies the value by 100 for display and adds a % sign. The shortcut shows no decimals.

That's why the stored value matters:

If you see 1200%, the cell holds 12, not 0.12. Type 12% instead, or divide by 100. Growth and percent change formulas like =(C2-B2)/B2 already return decimals, so they just need the format. For more decimals, use Increase Decimal on the Home tab, or Ctrl+1 (⌘1).

How to format numbers as dates#

Press Ctrl+Shift+# (⌃⇧# on a Mac) to show a number as a date with the day, month and year. Excel stores every date as a whole number, the count of days since 1 January 1900. So 45658 formatted as a date is 1 January 2025.

The exact look (for example 1-Jan-25 or 1/1/2025) depends on your Excel version and region. If you see a 5-digit number where a date should be, the cell just needs a date format. If you see a date in 1900 where a small number should be, someone gave it a date format by mistake. Press Ctrl+Shift+~ to reset it. Why Excel stores dates as numbers explains this in full.

Comma style and General#

Ctrl+Shift+! (⌃⇧! on a Mac) applies the Number format with a thousands separator and two decimal places, often called comma style. It's a good choice for large amounts without a currency sign: 53122.25 shows as 53,122.25.

Ctrl+Shift+~ (⌃⇧~ on a Mac) resets cells to General, Excel's normal format. Use it when a format is wrong and you want to start again. (~ is Shift plus the key to the left of 1.)

Use Format Cells for everything else#

Ctrl+1 (⌘1 on a Mac) opens the Format Cells box. On the Number tab you can choose any format and set the number of decimal places exactly. For example, choose Percentage with 1 decimal place to show 0.045 as 4.5%.

To show a formatted number inside text, such as "Growth: 4.5%", you need a formula instead of a format. See the TEXT function's formats.

Common number formatting problems#

Most formatting problems have one of these causes:

• #### in the cell. The column is too narrow for the formatted number. Make it wider.
• Numbers that won't add up. They may be stored as text: they sit on the left of the cell and often show a small green triangle. Formatting won't fix this; the values need converting to numbers.
• 1200% instead of 12%. The cell holds 12, not 0.12.
• A date where a number should be. Reset the cell with Ctrl+Shift+~.
• The wrong format on many cells. Press Ctrl+Z (⌘Z) to undo it straight away. Edit, clear, undo and redo without the mouse shows more ways to fix mistakes.

To select a large block before you format it, type the range into the Name Box. Six Name Box tricks shows how. Clean, consistent formatting is a basic expectation in Excel for admin jobs.

Practise formatting numbers#

Try the shortcuts yourself in a live sheet. The formatting shortcuts lesson has you bold headers and apply currency and percent formats from the keyboard. The more formatting lesson adds italic, underline, comma style, dates and the General reset.