Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. 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: Converting Text to Values.

Converting Text to Values

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 5, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


5

If you are using Excel to massage data imported from another system, you know that often the data needs quite a bit of work. For instance, you might import information that represents a time value, but the data actually ends up being treated by Excel as a text string.

If you find your data in this condition, all is not lost. If you want to convert the text values into actual time values, there are several ways you can accomplish the task. The first is to follow these steps:

  1. Insert a blank column to the right of the data you need to convert.
  2. Just to the right of the first cell that has a text-formatted time value, enter the following formula. Make sure you substitute the address of the cell for A1:
  3.         =VALUE(A1)
    
  4. Copy the formula down so that each cell to be converted has the formula to its right.
  5. Select the column in which you just put the formulas.
  6. Press Ctrl+C. This copies the selected information to the Clipboard.
  7. Display the Home tab of the ribbon.
  8. Click the down-arrow under the Paste tool and then select Paste Special. Excel displays the Paste Special dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  9. Figure 1. The Paste Special dialog box.

  10. Make sure the Values radio button is selected.
  11. Click on OK. All your formulas are replaced with actual values.
  12. Format the column using a desired Time format.
  13. Delete the original text-formatted time column.

Once you get going with this process, it is pretty quick. Not as quick, however, as the following approach:

  1. Select the cells that contain the text-formatted times. If it is an entire column, select the entire column.
  2. Display the Data tab of the ribbon.
  3. Click the Text to Columns tool. Excel launches the Convert Text to Columns Wizard. (See Figure 2.)
  4. Figure 2. The Convert Text to Columns wizard.

  5. Don't worry about any of the settings in the Wizard—your data should be converted just fine with the defaults.
  6. Click on Finish.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11438) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Converting Text to Values.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Changing Default Search Settings

Excel provides some great tools for finding information in a worksheet or a workbook. Changing the default settings used ...

Discover More

Assigning Macros to Graphics

The graphics you place in a worksheet can do more than just look pretty. You can also assign macros to a graphic, which ...

Discover More

Determining How Many Styles are Available

Got a macro that processes or uses styles? You definitely need to know how many styles Word has available in the ...

Discover More

Dive Deep into Macros! Make Excel do things you thought were impossible, discover techniques you won't find anywhere else, and create powerful automated reports. Bill Jelen and Tracy Syrstad help you instantly visualize information to make it actionable. You’ll find step-by-step instructions, real-world case studies, and 50 workbooks packed with examples and solutions. Check out Microsoft Excel 2019 VBA and Macros today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Setting an Upper Threshold for a Cell

Do you want to limit what can be entered into a particular cell in your worksheet? Here are three separate ways you can ...

Discover More

Preparing Data for Import into Access

When importing Excel information into Access, you need to be concerned with the condition of the data. Here's how to make ...

Discover More

Forcing Input to Uppercase

If you type information into a workbook, you may want to make sure that what you type is always stored in uppercase. ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is seven more than 2?

2024-06-05 09:09:06

Joan Koskela

I use the second suggestion whenever I have this issue. The only step I add is, after I have selected the data to convert, I format the cells to how I want the data to display (e.g., include a comma for numbers over 999). This may be a suggestion for Tim Foxen to convert his data, but I'm not sure. If this doesn't work in his situation, I would suggestion using Replace to change the decimals to commas before trying to convert.


2021-10-19 04:56:29

Leslie Glasser

Commas or decimal points are simply conventions which may be altrered in Excel. Try this:

https://www.extendoffice.com/documents/excel/5229-excel-comma-to-decimal-point.html


2021-10-18 09:55:22

Tim Foxen

Hi, neither worked. I don't think it applies to my situation - a European/south african excel version that uses commas instead of decimals and reads decimals that get imported as text. So I need to convert the text (numbers with decimals) to numbers, with commas). If you have that solution, please let me know!!


2020-04-25 22:35:58

Leslie Glasser

These methods to convert text to numbers may fail when there hidden leading or trailing characters.

This array function will remove up to 10 such hidden characters (will work as dynamic array in Excel 2016; otherwise enter with Ctrl+Shift+Enter)

=VALUE(CONCAT(SUBSTITUTE(IFERROR(VALUE(SUBSTITUTE(MID(A1,ROW(INDIRECT("1:"&LEN(A1))),1),".",10)),""),10,".")))

from https://www.reddit.com/r/excel/comments/8imcd1/cant_convert_text_to_numbers_tried_everything/

(Author: dm_parker0)


2020-04-25 10:13:53

Mark Watson

If this is a task that needs to be done repeatedly I suggest using Power Query (Get & Transform).


This Site

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.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.