The 39203 indicates that the format is General, (where it should be Date).
Have you tried formatting the cell to Date, hit the return button to move
out of the cell, then click back in the cell, enter the date and return again?
BCB

"John" wrote:

I am working on Excell 2003 and I have applied a format to a cell, I can see
the formatting in the formula cell but when I hit return the cell will not
update to the format applied.
ie. Formatting for a date, I have applied the format to the cell and the
formula toolbar shows the information in the correct format say 02/05/2007
but when I press return the cell shows 39203 while the formula toolbar is
still showing 02/05/2007.
Can anyone help with the above error as it is part the excel shet is part of
a report that I need to issue.
John