Excel: Decimal Values in Charts Don't Appear As Expected

ID: Q67094

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 2.x, 3.0, 4.0, 4.0a
Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 2.2, 3.0, 4.0
Microsoft Excel for OS/2 versions 2.2, 2.21, and 3.0

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Excel, values that have decimal places and/or are formatted in a currency format may not appear in a chart as you originally entered them into the worksheet; and, in the case of unattached text, these values may not appear the way you entered them in the chart:

With attached text, numbers that have more than two decimal places may be rounded to the second decimal place. This may occur when you create the chart or in print preview.

With unattached text, if you use a decimal number in combination with a dollar sign ($), it will always appear with two decimal places.

MORE INFORMATION

Attached Text with Decimal Places

Attached text values in a chart will always appear in the number format that was applied to the values on the worksheet. If no number format was applied, the values will be displayed in the General format and as a result, decimal values may be rounded when you display the chart or in print preview. If you directly format the values with a specific built-in or custom number format, the values will be displayed in that format on your worksheet and chart.

To create a custom number format to display more than 2 decimal places, follow these steps:

Select the range of values you want to format.

From the Format menu, choose Number.

In the Code box, type #.0###.

Enter a pound sign for each decimal place you want to display. The 0 after the decimal indicates that all integers appear with a 0. For each subsequent pound sign, the value will be displayed as long as it is not zero. For example, you can use this number format to display the values 2.235 and 4.5456.

Choose OK.

Unattached Text in Currency Format

When you enter a value as unattached text with a leading dollar sign ($), Microsoft Excel will automatically format it as currency, displaying out to two decimal places. If you want to display a number that includes a currency symbol as unattached text in any format other than two decimal places, enter the number as text. The following formula will enter $2.3 as a text string onto a chart:

="$2.3"

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Last Reviewed: July 13, 1999