I have a spreadsheet I work with every day and I use fractional percentages,
between 0-1%. If the field is formatted as Percentage, and I type in ".5", it
reads it as 50%, which it would be if it weren't a percentage. But it is.
It's a half percent. By typing in "50", I also get 50%, which doesn't make
sense. If I type in "5" I get 5%, if I type in ".5", I should get .5%. Is
there a way to make this happen, or is this just a glitch in Excel? Please
help me figure this out. Thanks.

Try this, Buzz:
http://www.officearticles.com/excel/... ft_excel.htm
*******************
~Anne Troy

www.OfficeArticles.com


"Abuzzmaster" wrote in message
...
I have a spreadsheet I work with every day and I use fractional
percentages,
between 0-1%. If the field is formatted as Percentage, and I type in ".5",
it
reads it as 50%, which it would be if it weren't a percentage. But it is.
It's a half percent. By typing in "50", I also get 50%, which doesn't make
sense. If I type in "5" I get 5%, if I type in ".5", I should get .5%. Is
there a way to make this happen, or is this just a glitch in Excel? Please
help me figure this out. Thanks.

You might want to try to enter it as .05, leave formatted as a percentage
with 2 decimal points. I've come across this in other programs also.

"Abuzzmaster" wrote:

I have a spreadsheet I work with every day and I use fractional percentages,
between 0-1%. If the field is formatted as Percentage, and I type in ".5", it
reads it as 50%, which it would be if it weren't a percentage. But it is.
It's a half percent. By typing in "50", I also get 50%, which doesn't make
sense. If I type in "5" I get 5%, if I type in ".5", I should get .5%. Is
there a way to make this happen, or is this just a glitch in Excel? Please
help me figure this out. Thanks.

What version are you using?

Right now I'm on a XL97 machine.
Formatting a range to % with 2 decimal places, and entering:
..5
and
0.5
Give 2 completely different results!
..5 = 50.00%
0.5 = 0.50%

Now, I remember seeing on my XL02 machine, a setting in,
<Tools <Options <Edit tab,
A setting that I don't have on my 97 machine.
Something relating to %'s ... something about % entries (can't quite
remember without looking).

Anyway, if your version has this option in the <Edit tab, try making
various entries with it checked and unchecked, and see it helps.
(Can't check mine 'til tomorrow morning)
--
Regards,

RD

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please keep all correspondence within the NewsGroup, so all may benefit !
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Abuzzmaster" wrote in message
...
I have a spreadsheet I work with every day and I use fractional
percentages,
between 0-1%. If the field is formatted as Percentage, and I type in ".5",
it
reads it as 50%, which it would be if it weren't a percentage. But it is.
It's a half percent. By typing in "50", I also get 50%, which doesn't make
sense. If I type in "5" I get 5%, if I type in ".5", I should get .5%. Is
there a way to make this happen, or is this just a glitch in Excel? Please
help me figure this out. Thanks.

Hi

Using Windows 2000 and Office XP I have the same situation at times. Plesae
note the at times part.

Since I never work with fractions, this has never bothered me. Strange
enough, if you, with some percentages in your sheet, untick the Allow
automatic % entry option, and you type in 50, you will get 5000%, 5 will show
500%, .5 will show 50%, .05 will show 5% and so on
Do not untick that option, for your own sanity's sake

--
ve_2nd_at. Randburg, Gauteng, South Africa


"Abuzzmaster" wrote:

I have a spreadsheet I work with every day and I use fractional percentages,
between 0-1%. If the field is formatted as Percentage, and I type in ".5", it
reads it as 50%, which it would be if it weren't a percentage. But it is.
It's a half percent. By typing in "50", I also get 50%, which doesn't make
sense. If I type in "5" I get 5%, if I type in ".5", I should get .5%. Is
there a way to make this happen, or is this just a glitch in Excel? Please
help me figure this out. Thanks.

That didn't help, unfortunately. That box was already unchecked for me. Try
formatting a cell as Percentage, then type in 5 and .05 and you get the same
result. You should get 5% and 0.05% respectively. Doesn't make sense. If you
have any other suggestions, I'd be grateful.

"Anne Troy" wrote:

Try this, Buzz:
http://www.officearticles.com/excel/... ft_excel.htm
*******************
~Anne Troy

www.OfficeArticles.com


"Abuzzmaster" wrote in message
...
I have a spreadsheet I work with every day and I use fractional
percentages,
between 0-1%. If the field is formatted as Percentage, and I type in ".5",
it
reads it as 50%, which it would be if it weren't a percentage. But it is.
It's a half percent. By typing in "50", I also get 50%, which doesn't make
sense. If I type in "5" I get 5%, if I type in ".5", I should get .5%. Is
there a way to make this happen, or is this just a glitch in Excel? Please
help me figure this out. Thanks.

If I enter it as .05, it reads 5%. If I wanted 5%, I'd type in 5, right? It's
actually formatted with 3 decimal points. Try it on your Excel, you'll see,
typing in .05 and 5 both gives 5%, when it should be 0.05% and 5%,
respectively. I'm thoroughly confused. If you have any other suggestions, I'd
appreciate it.

"paula" wrote:

You might want to try to enter it as .05, leave formatted as a percentage
with 2 decimal points. I've come across this in other programs also.

"Abuzzmaster" wrote:

I have a spreadsheet I work with every day and I use fractional percentages,
between 0-1%. If the field is formatted as Percentage, and I type in ".5", it
reads it as 50%, which it would be if it weren't a percentage. But it is.
It's a half percent. By typing in "50", I also get 50%, which doesn't make
sense. If I type in "5" I get 5%, if I type in ".5", I should get .5%. Is
there a way to make this happen, or is this just a glitch in Excel? Please
help me figure this out. Thanks.

I don't really understand. I typed in ..5 and got "..5". No percentages. Why
2 decimal points? If you try on your excel, you'll see that .05 and 5
entered, both give you "5%", when they should give you 0.05% and 5.00%,
respectively. I still don't get it. If you check on your other computer and
come up with something, please let me know. Thanks. I'm using Excel 2002.

"Ragdyer" wrote:

What version are you using?

Right now I'm on a XL97 machine.
Formatting a range to % with 2 decimal places, and entering:
..5
and
0.5
Give 2 completely different results!
..5 = 50.00%
0.5 = 0.50%

Now, I remember seeing on my XL02 machine, a setting in,
<Tools <Options <Edit tab,
A setting that I don't have on my 97 machine.
Something relating to %'s ... something about % entries (can't quite
remember without looking).

Anyway, if your version has this option in the <Edit tab, try making
various entries with it checked and unchecked, and see it helps.
(Can't check mine 'til tomorrow morning)
--
Regards,

RD

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please keep all correspondence within the NewsGroup, so all may benefit !
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Abuzzmaster" wrote in message
...
I have a spreadsheet I work with every day and I use fractional
percentages,
between 0-1%. If the field is formatted as Percentage, and I type in ".5",
it
reads it as 50%, which it would be if it weren't a percentage. But it is.
It's a half percent. By typing in "50", I also get 50%, which doesn't make
sense. If I type in "5" I get 5%, if I type in ".5", I should get .5%. Is
there a way to make this happen, or is this just a glitch in Excel? Please
help me figure this out. Thanks.

I don't understand. Where is the check box you're referring to? And I
couldn't really tell from your response if this was a solution to the
problem, or just another problem that you've faced that's loosely related.
Could you clear that up for me? And if you have any help I would really
appreciate it. Thanks.

"Kassie" wrote:

Hi

Using Windows 2000 and Office XP I have the same situation at times. Plesae
note the at times part.

Since I never work with fractions, this has never bothered me. Strange
enough, if you, with some percentages in your sheet, untick the Allow
automatic % entry option, and you type in 50, you will get 5000%, 5 will show
500%, .5 will show 50%, .05 will show 5% and so on
Do not untick that option, for your own sanity's sake

--
ve_2nd_at. Randburg, Gauteng, South Africa


"Abuzzmaster" wrote:

I have a spreadsheet I work with every day and I use fractional percentages,
between 0-1%. If the field is formatted as Percentage, and I type in ".5", it
reads it as 50%, which it would be if it weren't a percentage. But it is.
It's a half percent. By typing in "50", I also get 50%, which doesn't make
sense. If I type in "5" I get 5%, if I type in ".5", I should get .5%. Is
there a way to make this happen, or is this just a glitch in Excel? Please
help me figure this out. Thanks.

I *DIDN'T* say 2 decimal *POINTS*, I said 2 decimal *PLACES*.

Anyway, re-read my post.
You'll see where I described entering
..5 = 50.00%
And entering
0.5 = 0.50%

So, the answer to your question is to enter a zero before the decimal point,
and then you'll get exactly what you're looking for.
--
HTH,

RD
==============================================
Please keep all correspondence within the Group, so all may benefit!
==============================================

"Abuzzmaster" wrote in message
...
I don't really understand. I typed in ..5 and got "..5". No percentages.
Why
2 decimal points? If you try on your excel, you'll see that .05 and 5
entered, both give you "5%", when they should give you 0.05% and 5.00%,
respectively. I still don't get it. If you check on your other computer
and
come up with something, please let me know. Thanks. I'm using Excel 2002.

"Ragdyer" wrote:

What version are you using?

Right now I'm on a XL97 machine.
Formatting a range to % with 2 decimal places, and entering:
..5
and
0.5
Give 2 completely different results!
..5 = 50.00%
0.5 = 0.50%

Now, I remember seeing on my XL02 machine, a setting in,
<Tools <Options <Edit tab,
A setting that I don't have on my 97 machine.
Something relating to %'s ... something about % entries (can't quite
remember without looking).

Anyway, if your version has this option in the <Edit tab, try making
various entries with it checked and unchecked, and see it helps.
(Can't check mine 'til tomorrow morning)
--
Regards,

RD


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Please keep all correspondence within the NewsGroup, so all may benefit
!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
"Abuzzmaster" wrote in message
...
I have a spreadsheet I work with every day and I use fractional
percentages,
between 0-1%. If the field is formatted as Percentage, and I type in
".5",
it
reads it as 50%, which it would be if it weren't a percentage. But it
is.
It's a half percent. By typing in "50", I also get 50%, which doesn't
make
sense. If I type in "5" I get 5%, if I type in ".5", I should get .5%.
Is
there a way to make this happen, or is this just a glitch in Excel?
Please
help me figure this out. Thanks.

Hi

I merely confirmed that this is a problem in Excel. If you want to enter
5%, there is really only one way, and that is to enter it as .05. If you
want .5%, enter it as .005. Stupid, I know.
The button I referred to, you will find under Tools|Options. Select the
Edit tab, and you have the option to automatically enter numbers as %. If
you untick this option, it goes completely haywire. So I only tried to warn
you on the one hand, and to confirm that we do have a problem. The solution
- who knows?
--
ve_2nd_at. Randburg, Gauteng, South Africa


"Abuzzmaster" wrote:

I don't understand. Where is the check box you're referring to? And I
couldn't really tell from your response if this was a solution to the
problem, or just another problem that you've faced that's loosely related.
Could you clear that up for me? And if you have any help I would really
appreciate it. Thanks.

"Kassie" wrote:

Hi

Using Windows 2000 and Office XP I have the same situation at times. Plesae
note the at times part.

Since I never work with fractions, this has never bothered me. Strange
enough, if you, with some percentages in your sheet, untick the Allow
automatic % entry option, and you type in 50, you will get 5000%, 5 will show
500%, .5 will show 50%, .05 will show 5% and so on
Do not untick that option, for your own sanity's sake

--
ve_2nd_at. Randburg, Gauteng, South Africa


"Abuzzmaster" wrote:

I have a spreadsheet I work with every day and I use fractional percentages,
between 0-1%. If the field is formatted as Percentage, and I type in ".5", it
reads it as 50%, which it would be if it weren't a percentage. But it is.
It's a half percent. By typing in "50", I also get 50%, which doesn't make
sense. If I type in "5" I get 5%, if I type in ".5", I should get .5%. Is
there a way to make this happen, or is this just a glitch in Excel? Please
help me figure this out. Thanks.

I've had the same problem, and it is annoying. It's counterintuitive that
these two different keystroke sequences (".5" and "50") result in the *same*
number when the cell is formatted as a percentage. The solution is to type
the leading zero. For instance, enter "0.5" instead of ".5" to get the
correct display of 0.5%.

"Abuzzmaster" wrote:

I have a spreadsheet I work with every day and I use fractional percentages,
between 0-1%. If the field is formatted as Percentage, and I type in ".5", it
reads it as 50%, which it would be if it weren't a percentage. But it is.
It's a half percent. By typing in "50", I also get 50%, which doesn't make
sense. If I type in "5" I get 5%, if I type in ".5", I should get .5%. Is
there a way to make this happen, or is this just a glitch in Excel? Please
help me figure this out. Thanks.

ToolsOptionsEdit tabEnable automatic percent entry governs the behavior of Excel for percentages.
Confusing, I agree.
But then again, the previous behavior was confusing to many too.....

--
Kind regards,

Niek Otten
Microsoft MVP - Excel


"J. Sperry" wrote in message ...
| I've had the same problem, and it is annoying. It's counterintuitive that
| these two different keystroke sequences (".5" and "50") result in the *same*
| number when the cell is formatted as a percentage. The solution is to type
| the leading zero. For instance, enter "0.5" instead of ".5" to get the
| correct display of 0.5%.
|
| "Abuzzmaster" wrote:
|
| I have a spreadsheet I work with every day and I use fractional percentages,
| between 0-1%. If the field is formatted as Percentage, and I type in ".5", it
| reads it as 50%, which it would be if it weren't a percentage. But it is.
| It's a half percent. By typing in "50", I also get 50%, which doesn't make
| sense. If I type in "5" I get 5%, if I type in ".5", I should get .5%. Is
| there a way to make this happen, or is this just a glitch in Excel? Please
| help me figure this out. Thanks.