Excel seems to have a built-in default for dates. When I type 8-4 (wanting
to represent an 8-hour work schedule from 8am to 4pm) into a blank cell and
then moveto the next cell, the 8-4 in the first cell changes to Aug 4 in
front of my eyes. In addition, even when I text format a cell not to change
8-4 to Aug 4, when I copy and past a cell containing 8-4 to a new workbook,
it changes my texted 8-4 in the old workbook to Aug 4 in the new workbook.
I cannot find how to turn this automatic default feature off. I do not want
to have to continually format individual cells for text.

Add an apostrophe ( ' ) to the start of the cell.

Thanks for this tip, Carl. I am still looking for a possible way to just
turn off the default and circumvent having to add the apostrophe character to
each cell. Any more ideas?? Thanks. Don

"Carl" wrote:

Add an apostrophe ( ' ) to the start of the cell.