hi stephen,
you are right. formatting only changes the way data looks. it DOES NOT
change the data. So how do you change the data.
try this formula....
="(" & MID(B20,1,3) & ")" & MID(B20,4,3) & "-" & MID(B20,7,10)
this will add the parentheses and dash. copy the formula down. after copy
the column and EditPasteSpecialvalues. this will turn the formula in to
hard text.

Regards
FSt1

"Stephen S" wrote:

Excel 2003
I have lists of phone numbers in continuous 10 digits format. I'd like to
convert them to USA format so I can import them (with area code in
parentheses etc) into a PTA school phone directory using Word 2003 merge. I
know about Format/Cells/Special/Phone Number but this is obviously only for
display and printing purposes. While the cells show the US format, the
unformatted 10 digits are still in the formula bar.