Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Notation for Thousands and Millions.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 29, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365
Jim wonders how he can get Excel to automatically display numbers using "k" for thousands and "m" for millions. As an example, if a cell contains the value $470,000 he would like it displayed as $470k; if it contains the value $1,107,432 he would like it displayed as $1.1m.
One obvious method is to create a formula that will display the information as desired. The following formula will take into account the magnitude of the number in cell B2 and then provide a formatted text string appropriate to that magnitude:
=IF(B2 < 1000,B2,IF(B2 < 1000000, "$" & ROUND(B2/1000,1) & "k", "$" & ROUND(B2/1000000,1) & "m"))
Remember that this is a single formula and should be entered entirely on one line. The drawback with such an approach, of course, is that the formula takes up space within your worksheet. To get around this you could, instead, create a custom format that will simply affect the display of the number in the cell.
To create a custom format, display the Home tab of the ribbon and click the small icon at the lower-right corner of the Number group. In the resulting dialog box, click Custom at the left side. Here's the custom format you should create in the dialog box:
[>1000000]$#.0,,"m";[>1000]$#,"k";$#,##0
This format will display both millions and thousands using the desired notation. If the number is below a thousand then it will be displayed without any special notation. As appropriate, values are rounded to one decimal place.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (6146) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Notation for Thousands and Millions.
Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!
Adding a custom format to Excel is easy. Having that custom format appear in all your workbooks is a different story ...
Discover MoreWant information in a worksheet to be formatted and displayed as rounded to a power of ten? You may be out of luck, ...
Discover MoreExcel allows you to format your numeric values in a wide variety of ways. One such formatting option is to display ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2024 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here:
Comments