Hi!

Is the "inverted comma" visible in the cell or does it only show up in the
formula bar?

If it only shows up in the formula bar then that means the value is TEXT.

If it is visible in the cell then you could try EditReplace.

Select the range of cells that have that inverted comma.
GotoEditReplace
Find what: '
Replace with: nothing, leave this blank
Replace All

How do I tell if it is formatted as text?

Unless you have changed formats, TEXT will default align left and NUMBERS
default align right.

To compare length:

Suppose the value with the inverted comma is in cell A1:

=LEN(A1)

And compare that result to the length of the other value.

If the inverted comma is just a text format apostrophe, that will not be
counted in the length.

Biff

"Molly" wrote in message
...
Hi Biff,

Thank you for taking the time to consider my problem. The format does not
change monthly, the database section has had a recent system change. When
I needed the information the inverted commas were present next to the
student numbers. After the system change,one month later the system has
done away with the inverted commas leaving me in a pickle. I believe the
system is now stable.

It could be unseen characters, how do I compare the length of the string.
To me they look the same except for the inverted comma. How do I tell if
it is formatted as text? I assume that is what the inverted comma means.

I think the system will stay now without the inverted commas so I need to
get my data into this format.

kind regards

Martina

Biff wrote:
Hi!


'04152365221

This will not speak to older data (from last month!) which is of the
format:

04152365221


What format is that? Is it formatted as TEXT so it keeps the leading 0 or
is is a custom number format 00000000000?

Could be the imported data has unseen characters such as spaces, line
feeds, line breaks, etc.

If both values have the same format try comparing the length of each
string. If this data is imported monthly, why would the format change
from month to month?

Biff

"Martina" wrote in message
...

Could someone help me with a data format issue. I am importing student
numbers from a university database which come into my sheet as:

'04152365221

This will not speak to older data (from last month!) which is of the
format:

04152365221

I have tried:
Removing the inverted comma.
Doing the multiply by 1
Changing both to General format
Have used the Text to Columns feature.

I can't seem to achieve a common ground. It only works if I physically
retype each number in again. This is really not a viable option.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

regards
Martina