XL: General Number Format Applied to Improper Time Entry

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
• Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 5.0, 5.0a, 5.0c

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel, when you enter a time into a cell, the cell may change to the General number format, and display a decimal number.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs when you enter an improper time value, where the minutes are greater than or equal to 60. For example if you type "5:62" (without the quotation marks), the cell displays "0.251389"

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, change the cell to the Time number format. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click to select the cell.



2. On the Format menu, click Cells.



3. On the Number tab, click Time in the Category list, and then click the time format you want in the Type list. Click OK.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

REFERENCES

For more information about formatting, click the Index tab in Microsoft Excel Help, type the following text

number formats, in cells

and then double-click the selected text. Click to select "Change the way Microsoft Excel displays numbers, dates, and times" and click Display.

Additional query words: XL97

Keywords          : xlformat 
Version           : WINDOWS:5.0,5.0a,5.0c,7.0,7.0a,97
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbbug 

Last Reviewed: July 30, 1999