if all you need is the display to have a hyphen, you can format the cell with
<format<cells
select <custom and enter as type
00-00
You can play with the format to make it display what you want. this treats
a 4 digit number as just a four digit number even though it displays with the
hyphen.

"biglar85012" wrote:

How do I stop a number from being converted to a date? Example: When I
enter the number 02-08 it automatically converts to "Feb-8". I have tried
formating the cell as a number, but the date conversion overrides the
formating and makes it a date. I have tried entering the number as text, but
then have trouble sorting.

I realize that enter a digits from 1 thru 12 with a hyphen causes the date
conversion. How do I TURN IT OFF?