Tip 167 – Easily Convert Text to Numbers in Excel

Sometimes when you import data from another application into Excel it comes in as text entries and not as numbers. You can convert text to a number by multiplying the text values by 1. To do this, type 1 in a cell, select it and choose Copy. Select the values to convert to being a number and choose Paste > Paste Special and, from the Operation area choose Multiply and click Ok.