Excel Changes random numbers to date

[gueyo]

Hi
Can anyone tell me how to stop excel from changing random numbers into
dates? example 4-1957 change to April 1957 this is driving me nuts.

 

[CyberTaz]

There are at least 2 options;

1- type an apostrophe before the digits so they will be treated as a text
string rather than being interpreted as a Date (the ' won't display), or

2- pre-format the cells as Text

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Carl Witthoft]

Keep in mind that "4-1957" is not a number.
I'm no fan of Excel's "helpful" features like auto-date conversion,
auto-hyperlinking email addresses, etc. , but in this case you should
keep in mind that a formula isn't a formula unless it begins with an "="
(or, for purists, a "-" or "+" will work too)