Microsoft KB Archive/125807

= Microsoft Knowledge Base =

XL: Numbers Displayed Incorrectly When Opening Text File
Last reviewed: March 27, 1997

Article ID: Q125807

2.10 3.00 4.00 5.00 7.00 | 2.20 3.00 4.00 5.00

WINDOWS                 | MACINTOSH kbusage

The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 2.x, 3.x, 4.0, 5.0
 * Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 2.2, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0
 * Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, version 7.0

SYMPTOMS
In Microsoft Excel, when you open a text file, numbers may be displayed in scientific notation (for example, 1E+09) instead of in serial number format (1000000000).

CAUSE
When you open a text file in Microsoft Excel, the column width is set to the default column width based on the Normal style font. Therefore, if a number has more characters than will fit in a column, the number will be displayed in scientific notation.

WORKAROUND
The actual number will not be changed, so you can adjust the column widths to be wider. This allows the number to be displayed normally.