There is one way to test
If your number is in A1 then enter this in B1
=ISNUMBER(A1)
If you get FALSE then A1 does NOT contain a number hence the problem...

Check for a ' in the cell (in EDIT mode - press F2 to get into edit mode) or
extra space before/after the number...

in Excel 2007 in the HOME ribbon there is a dropdown which shows the current
formatting..

You will also see a button (they were there in 2003 too) with -0.00
Click on it to reduce the no. of digits after the decimal...

Failing everything send the file to me...

"Robert11" wrote:

Hi,

Sorry for all these dumb questions, but I never had any problems with Excel
97.

This one is apparently just too complicated for me at my old age.

Anyway, thanks for all the help; really appreciate it.

So, using Excel 2007, and XP

I select a cell that has a number in it with 5 decimal places.
I go to Format Cells, and select Number, and tell it to go to 4 decimal
places.

It won't, and continues to show 5 decimal places.

This is also true if I try it on a column of numbers.

What am I not doing right ?
(I am sure that what appears in the cell is truly a number, and not text.)

Thanks,
Bob