Excel 2007 For Dummies
Book image
Explore Book Buy On Amazon

If you need to enter a bunch of numbers in an Excel 2007 worksheet that use the same number of decimal places, you can turn on Excel’s Fixed Decimal setting and have the program enter the decimals for you. All you do is type the digits and complete the entry in the cell.

For example, to enter the numeric value 100.99 in a cell after fixing the decimal point to two places, type the digits 10099 without typing the period for a decimal point. When you complete the cell entry, Excel automatically inserts a decimal point two places from the right in the number you typed, leaving 100.99 in the cell.

To fix the number of decimal places in a numeric entry, follow these steps:

Click the Office Button and then click the Excel Options button.

The Excel Options dialog box appears.

Click the Advanced tab.

The Advanced options appear in the right pane.

Select the Automatically Insert a Decimal Point check box in the Editing Options section.

Select the Automatically Insert a Decimal Point check box in the Editing Options section.

By default, Excel fixes the decimal place two places to the left of the last number you type. To change the default Places setting, go to Step 4; otherwise move to Step 5.

(Optional) Type a new number in the Places text box or use the spinner buttons to change the value.

For example, you could change the Places setting to 3 to enter numbers with the following decimal placement: 00.000.

Click OK.

Click OK.

Excel displays the Fixed Decimal status indicator on the Status bar to let you know that the Fixed Decimal feature is now active.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book author:

Greg Harvey has authored tons of computer books, the most recent being Excel Workbook For Dummies and Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 For Dummies, and the most popular being Excel 2003 For Dummies and Excel 2003 All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies. He started out training business users on how to use IBM personal computers and their attendant computer software in the rough and tumble days of DOS, WordStar, and Lotus 1-2-3 in the mid-80s of the last century. After working for a number of independent training firms, Greg went on to teach semester-long courses in spreadsheet and database management software at Golden Gate University in San Francisco.
His love of teaching has translated into an equal love of writing. For Dummies books are, of course, his all-time favorites to write because they enable him to write to his favorite audience: the beginner. They also enable him to use humor (a key element to success in the training room) and, most delightful of all, to express an opinion or two about the subject matter at hand.
Greg received his doctorate degree in Humanities in Philosophy and Religion with a concentration in Asian Studies and Comparative Religion last May. Everyone is glad that Greg was finally able to get out of school before he retired.

This article can be found in the category: