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If the data was text (happens) then you get this. Select the column and reset to &quot;general&quot; format. Does that help?
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The other workaround is, copy a blank cell --&gt; select the cells with those numbers --&gt; Paste Special --&gt; Add --&gt; OK.
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If the file is .csv rather than Excel, you cannot simply double click to open it. &nbsp;You have to open an empty Excel workbook and than on the Data tab, use the import to import the .csv file. &nbsp;This will allow you to specify column data types correctly.<br />
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Excel thinks it is smarter than we are but in this situation, it is most definitely NOT.
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Recently a number of excel data files that I download have columns that are not properly formatted. Number aren't numbers for example.<br />
<br />
I can fix it by running text to columns, but I am curious if this may be caused by answering in excel or some other simple fix.<br />
<br />
Thanks!<br />
Dennis
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Recently a number of excel data files that I download have columns that are not properly formatted. Number aren't numbers for example.

I can fix it by running text to columns, but I am curious if this may be caused by answering in excel or some other simple fix.

Thanks!
Dennis

Excel Question:

Microsoft Access is a rapid application development (RAD) relational database tool. Access can be used for both desktop and web-based applications, and uses VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) as its coding language.

Microsoft Access

Microsoft Excel topics include formulas, formatting, VBA macros and user-defined functions, and everything else related to the spreadsheet user interface, including error messages.