XL: Number of Significant Digits MS Excel Retains

ID: Q65903


The information in this article applies to:


SUMMARY

Microsoft Excel retains 15 significant digits. To display all 15 digits, you must use a number format (custom or built-in) other than General. The General number format displays up to 11 numeric characters, with the decimal point counting as a numeric character. Thus, if the number contains a decimal point, Excel can display up to 10 significant digits, but if the number does not contain a decimal point, Excel can display up to 11 significant digits Adding more numbers to the left of the decimal point causes the number to appear in exponential notation.

Additional query words: 5.00c 2.0 2.00 2.01 2.1 2.10 2.2 2.20 2.21 3.0 4.0 97 XL97 98 XL98 precision limit limitation truncate


Keywords          : 
Version           : WINDOWS:2.0,3.0,4.0,4.0a,5.0,5.0c,7.0,97; MACINTOSH:5.0,5.0a,98
Platform          : MACINTOSH OS/2 WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbinfo 

Last Reviewed: March 21, 1999