I have a column in Excel that I want to enclose the contents with brackets in
every cell. Is there an easy way to do that?

Yes, there is an easy way to add brackets to every cell in Excel. You can use the CONCATENATE function or the ampersand (&) operator to add the brackets.

Here are the steps to add brackets to every cell in Excel using the

1. Select the column that you want to enclose with brackets.
2. In the first cell of the column, enter the formula
   Code:

   =CONCATENATE("(",A1,")")

   .
3. Press Enter to apply the formula to the cell.
4. Copy the formula by selecting the cell and pressing Ctrl+C.
5. Select the rest of the cells in the column that you want to enclose with brackets.
6. Paste the formula to the selected cells by pressing Ctrl+V.

Here are the steps to add brackets to every cell in Excel using the ampersand (&) operator:

1. Select the column that you want to enclose with brackets.
2. In the first cell of the column, enter the formula .
3. Press Enter to apply the formula to the cell.
4. Copy the formula by selecting the cell and pressing Ctrl+C.
5. Select the rest of the cells in the column that you want to enclose with brackets.
6. Paste the formula to the selected cells by pressing Ctrl+V.

These steps will add brackets to every cell in the selected column. You can also modify the formula to add other characters or text before or after the brackets.

Insert a column to left (assume stuff is in A)
In B1 ="("&A1&")"
Copy down column
Select all of B; Copy followed by Edit|Paste Special-Values
Now you can delete column A
best wishes
--
Bernard V Liengme
www.stfx.ca/people/bliengme
remove caps from email

"Terri" wrote in message
...
I have a column in Excel that I want to enclose the contents with brackets
in
every cell. Is there an easy way to do that?

Terri,

If you just want the brackets to appear, but not really be in the cell
contents, you can use Format - Cells - Number - Custom:
"["General"]";"["General"]";"["General"]";"["@"]"

Paste it in from this post. If you have numbers that require specific
number formatting, replace the word General with any number format you want.
The first is for positive numbers, then negative, then zero. The last part,
"["@"]" , is for text.

If you want to actually put the brackets into the cells, it will require a
formula in another cell, which could be pasted back over the original stuff
to make the brackets permanent in your original cells. The formula used
depends on what you have in the cells, numbers or text. If any of the
original cells are formulas, they'll have to be modified to include the
brackets; don't use this method, though you can use the first.
--
Earl Kiosterud
mvpearl omitthisword at verizon period net
-------------------------------------------

"Terri" wrote in message
...
I have a column in Excel that I want to enclose the contents with brackets
in
every cell. Is there an easy way to do that?

You could enter the following fomula in the column next to it

="(" & A1 &")"

Alternatively you could select the cells and run the macro below

Sub Test()
Dim cell As Range
For Each cell In Selection
cell.Value = "(" & cell.Value & ")"
Next cell

End Sub

James

"Terri" wrote in message
...
I have a column in Excel that I want to enclose the contents with brackets
in
every cell. Is there an easy way to do that?