you will need to delete the extra charecters so you can format them all the
same.

Select Edit-Find
Click Replace
In the Find box insert an open parenthesis (
Leave the replace box empty
Click Replace all

Repeat the procedure for the following charecters
) (close parenthesis)
- (dash)
(space bar)

you should now have a list of numbers, which can be formated anyway you want.
For example you can use a custom format of

(###) ###-####

to display
1234567890
as
(123) 456-7890

You will need to do this because if the number is entered with parenthesis
to begin with, it is treated as text instead of a number. And any custom
number format won't be applide.

"Maree" wrote:

I have a variety of formats in the one column of phone numbers. Some have
parentheses, some do not. I would like them to be all formatted the same way.
It doesn't work through format the cell, special. The other resolution
given assumes all formats are the same. What do I do with the parentheses on
some of the entries?
--
Maree