Perhaps the data is Text?

In an adjacent cell enter =ISNUMBER(cell)

True or False??

If False, run the data through DataText to Columns to see if you get a
change to General format which you can then re-format to time.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

On Sun, 27 Sep 2009 10:00:01 -0700, m_joy
wrote:

Hi

I am updating a general log sheet and having some seriously frustrating
formatting issues. It's a protected sheet which I have unprotected yet I'm
still unable to update the cell format. Though the properties say that it is
in the format I want - 13:30 - it is still displaying as mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm PM.
I've tried everything from clearing the entire contents of the cell to using
the format painter and I'm still at a loss. Any idea how to ensure that
formatting changes are applied? Any help offered would be greatly appreciated.