You can change the cell's format to General. But if the value in the cell
doesn't change (you still see the $ symbol), then the value in the cell isn't
really a number--it's text that looks like a number.

And since you copy|pasted from a web page, I bet that you got those HTML
non-breaking spaces. They look like spaces (er, white space), but they're not
just normal space characters.

Try this:

Select the offending range
Format the range as General (in preparation for the next step!)
Edit|replace
what: alt-0160
(hit and hold the alt-key while you type 0160 on the number keypad (not above
the QWERTY keys).
replace with: (leave blank)
replace all

(You may find that you want to change the format to General (or leave it
currency(?).)

Now check your totals to see if they were added correctly.

Donna wrote:

Hi,
It won't let me change the Dollar amounts to a general format and will not
sum.
Even though it is in individual columns do you think it still thinks it's a
picture file?
"Gord Dibben" wrote:

Format all to general.

Copy an empty cell.

Select the range of "numbers".

EditPaste SpecialAddOKEsc.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

On Sat, 6 Mar 2010 15:30:01 -0800, Donna wrote:

I copied and pasted a bank statement from my online bank account into excel.
It keeps the infomation in the correct columns and I can copy and move an
individual column. My trouble is I cannot sum the amount column. I have
tried copying and pasting back as special values but no luck. Any ideas?

.


--

Dave Peterson