There's an explanation at the bottom of that dialog:

Date formats display date and time serial numbers as date values. Except for
items that have an asterisk (*), applied formats do not switch date orders with
the operating system.

So if you choose an item that's marked with an asterisk (say the top one
(*03/14/2001 for me)), then that cell's display may change if you share the
workbook with someone else.

I've changed my windows short date format to mm/dd/yyyy. If I choose that
format and share my workbook with someone who has their windows short date
format set for m/d/yy, then the cell will look different to them.

In that case, it's not really much of a problem. But using a workbook created
by someone who uses m/d/yy may be a small problem for me. When I open that
workbook, excel will see my mm/dd/yyyy format and try to display the date that
way.

But if the column isn't wide enough, I'll see #####'s. If the worksheet isn't
protected, I can widen the column.



Marco18+ wrote:

Hi
I've got the UK version of Excel 2003.
What does the * next to a date format within the Type area signify when in
the Formatcells window, in the Number tab, having chosen the Date format?
Any info on this would be appreciated.
Thanks

--

Dave Peterson