Numbers changed into zeros

[shazydotcom]

I have a problem that i had phone numbers in excel columns. After some time I
have opened the file and see that Excel has changed the phone numbers into
the format like 4.48E+11 and in the formula bar it shows like 448000000000.
It means that Excel has replaced the last 9 digits with zeros. This has
happened to majority of cells within one worksheet while yet there are
certain cells which were not affected by this problem and they are showing
the original numbers correctly. Please help me how can i recover my original
numbers and why this problem has happened.

 

[Jacob Skaria]

Select all Ctrl+A
Rightclick Format Cells
Select Number with number of decimals 0

If this post helps click Yes

 

[shazydotcom]

Dear Jackob,

I tried to do so but it returns the value as in the formula bar. In other
words 44800000000. It shows that the original numbers have been lost. The
question is why they were lost and how to recover them?

 

[Francis]

Hi

The original number was not lost.
Try
Select all the cells in this format
Right click
Select Format Cells
Choose Number in Category under Number tab
Change decimal place to 0
click OK

I believe it is Excel's way of shortening a long number, given that
4.48*100000000000 will give you 448000000000
--
Hope this is helpful

Pls click the Yes button below if this post provide answer you have asked

Thank You

cheers, francis

Am not a greek but an ordinary user trying to assist another

 

[Shane Devenshire]

Hi,

No reason I know of that would modify your phone number on the formula bar.
What did the phone numbers look like that you were entering?

5431234
432-1234
(321) 666-1234
2132345678

or something else?

 

[shazydotcom]

Dear Francis...thanks for your answer but that does not solve my problem..

Dear Shane...thank you very much that you have asked a good question to
understand the problem...the phone numbers were stored like 448123456789.
Today when i opened this excel file the cell were showing number like
4.48E+11 and in the formula bar as 448000000000. That is basically the
problem that where gone the original number 448123456789? If i change the
format to number with 0 decimal place, even then it gives only
448000000000..Hope now the problem is more clear to understand and to solve.

Best regards,

 

[Dave Peterson]

Are you opening a text file (like .txt or .csv) in excel?

If yes, then open that file in Notepad.

If you see all the digits, then changing the format in excel will show the
correct phone number.

But if you see 4.48E+11, then the correct phone number has already been
destroyed.

It's time to go back to the program that created this file and get a fresh
version.