Excel: Dates Entered into Lotus Files Appear as Serial Numbers

ID: Q92371

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

In Excel, when you open a Lotus 1-2-3 Release 1 (WKS), Release 2.x (WK1), Release 3.x (WK3), or Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows (WK3) file, any date values you enter are displayed as serial numbers.

When you open a Lotus 1-2-3 file in Excel 4.0, a serial number is displayed because the Normal style number format is changed from "General" to "General_)". To view the date values in date format, apply a date format to those cells.

Note: The "General_)" format is the default number format in Excel for imported Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets.


MORE INFORMATION

In Excel versions 3.0 and 4.0, if the number format of the Normal style is set to a custom format, Excel will not automatically apply formatting based on the value entered.

In Excel version 4.0, Lotus 1-2-3 worksheets are opened with the "General_)" number format for the Normal style. As a result, when you enter a date such as "1/1/92" (without the quotation marks), the serial value will be displayed instead of the formatted value. This cell can then be formatted to display a date in date format.

To automatically apply number formatting, follow the steps below to change the Normal style number format back to General (or to another built-in number format):

  1. Select Style from the Format Menu.


  2. Choose the Define button.


  3. Choose the Number button in the Change group box.


  4. In the Format Number dialog box, select General from the Format Codes box.


  5. Choose the OK button in the Format Number dialog box.


  6. Choose the OK button in the Format Style dialog box to apply the style change.


Reference(s):

"Microsoft Excel User's Guide 1," version 4.0, pages 112, 245

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Last Reviewed: March 29, 1999