Formatting changes made to Excel worksheets improve their appearance and focus attention on specific data. Formatting changes the appearance of data, but does not change the actual data in the cell. This is important when the data is used in calculations.

Number formatting in Excel changes the appearance of a number or value in a cell on your worksheet. Number formatting is linked to the cell, not the value in the cell. Number formatting does not change the actual number in the cell, only the way it appears.

For example, if you select a cell that is formatted for negative, special, or long numbers, the regular number instead of the formatted number appears in the formula bar above the worksheet.

There are several ways to change the number format: