Currency, Percentages, and Scientific Notation

Currency Symbols - To enter one of the following currency symbols in a number format, turn on NUM LOCK and use the numeric keypad to enter the ANSI code for the symbol. 

To enter	Hold down ALT and type this code
¢	0162
£	0163
¥	0165
Ç	0128

 Note:   Custom formats are saved with the workbook. To have Microsoft Excel always use a specific currency symbol, change the currency symbol selected in Regional Settings in Control Panel before you start Excel.

Percentage   To display numbers as a percentage of 100, include the percent sign (%) in the number format. For example, a number such as .08 appears as 8%; 2.8 appears as 280%. 

Scientific Notation   To display numbers in scientific format, use "E-," "E+," "e-," or "e+" exponent codes in a section. If a format contains a 0 (zero) or # (number sign) to the right of an exponent code, Excel displays the number in scientific format and inserts an "E" or "e". The number of 0's or #'s to the right of a code determines the number of digits in the exponent. E- or e- places a minus sign by negative exponents. E+ or e+ places a minus sign by negative exponents and a plus sign by positive exponents.

Format Codes for Text and Spacing

Adding Characters  To display both text and numbers in a cell, enclose the text characters in double quotation marks (" ") or precede a single character with a backslash (\). Include the characters in the appropriate section of the format codes. For example, type the format $0.00" Surplus";$-0.00" Shortage" to display a negative amount as "$-125.74 Shortage." A space character and the following characters are displayed without the use of quotation marks: $ - + / ( ) : ! ^ & ' (left single quotation mark) ' (right single quotation mark) ~ { } = < > 

Including a Section for Text  If included, a text section is always the last section in the number format. Include an at sign (@) in the section where you want to display any text entered in the cell. If the @ character is omitted from the text section, text you enter will not be displayed. If you want to always display specific text characters with the entered text, enclose the additional text in double quotation marks (" ") — for example, "gross receipts for "@ . If the format does not include a text section, text you enter is not affected by the format. 

Adding Space   To create a space the width of a character in a number format, include an underscore (_) followed by the character. For example, when you follow an underscore with a closing parenthesis (_)), positive numbers line up correctly with negative numbers that are enclosed in parentheses.

 Repeating Characters   To repeat the next character in the format to fill the column width, include an asterisk (*) in the number format. For example, type 0*- to include enough dashes after a number to fill the cell.

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