First the problem- I'm trying to modify a large database with fields such as this "+12/+7/+2" by removing +'s (which are unnecessary for my purposes) and leaving the /'s. The 'Find and Replace' function should do this just fine- except it won't. Whenever I remove the +'s, what's left becomes a date. The cells start off formatted as text, but as soon as I 'find and replace' anything, they become date fields.

How in the heck can I get Excel to stop doing this?!?!?!

I've been googling advice on this subject for almost an hour. Almost all the similar solutions to my problem have included- "just format the cells as TEXT and it should work just fine" or "add an apostrophe(or a space) before your numbers and that should do it."

My problem with those "solutions" are twofold- 1) my cells supposedly ARE formatted as text, but apparently Find and Replace can ignore that and change it to whatever it wants, and 2) why should I have to add in unnecessary characters just to trick Excel into not using a "feature" I don't want it to use in the first place, especially since my whole point in doing this is to get rid of some unecessary characters!

So, is there a way to stop Find and Replace from applying the format it "thinks" you want to use instead of the one you actually told it to use?

A permanent solution to this problem would be greatly appreciated- and by more than just me I'm sure.
-Dave