Microsoft KB Archive/131332

= Formula Uses Formatting of First Cell in Range =

Article ID: 131332

Article Last Modified on 8/15/2005

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 95 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 5.0 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q131332




 * Microsoft Excel for Windows 4.0|4.0
 * Microsoft Excel for Windows 5.0c|5.0
 * c Microsoft Excel for Windows 95 7.0a|7.0a
 * Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh 4.0|4.0
 * Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh 5.0|5.0
 * Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh 5.0a|5.0a





SYMPTOMS
In Microsoft Excel, when you enter a formula that refers to a cell or range of cells, the number format applied to the cell that contains the formula is the same as the formatting applied to the first cell in the range that the formula refers to.



CAUSE
This behavior is by design of Microsoft Excel. The number format used in the first cell in the range that you are referencing is applied to the cell that contains the formula. This behavior also occurs when you use the AutoSum button to sum a range of cells. For example, when you enter the following on your worksheet   A1: $45.00 A2: 3 A3: 2 A4: =SUM(A1:A3) the value $50.00 appears in cell A4 because of the currency number formatting applied to cell A1.

NOTE: The formatting is not dynamic; that is, when you change the number formatting for a cell that is referenced in an existing formula, the formatting of the cell that contains the formula is not changed.

Microsoft Excel Versions 7.0 and Later
In Microsoft Excel versions 7.0 and later, the formatting in the first cell is also used by the AutoCalculate value displayed in the status bar. Note that in versions 7.0 and later, this behavior is more visible than in earlier versions of Microsoft Excel because of the special number formats: Social Security, Phone Number, and Zip Code. For example, if your worksheet contains the following values

  A1: 123-45-6789 A2: 1 A3: 2 A4: 3 A5: 4

where the Social Security number format is applied to cell A1, when you select the range A1:A5, the status bar displays the following value (assuming that the SUM function is selected for the AutoCalculate feature):

  SUM=123-45-6799

Additional query words: 5.00a 5.00c 7.00a 97 XL97 XL7 XL5 XL4 XL

Keywords: kbualink97 kbprb KB131332

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