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In Microsoft Excel, the appearance of a number is separate from the number that is stored in the cell. For example, a number may be displayed as rounded when its number of decimal places is too small or when the column isn't wide enough to display the number. Calculations that include the rounded number, however, will use the entire number that is stored behind the display.

To stop numbers from being displayed as rounded, you can increase the number of decimal places for that number, or you can increase the column width.

What do you want to do?

Increase the number of decimal places on the worksheet

Increase the decimal places for a built-in number format

Increase the column width to fit the entire number

Increase the number of decimal places on the worksheet

1. Select the cell or range (range: Two or more cells on a sheet. The cells in a range can be adjacent or nonadjacent.) of cells that contains the numbers for which you want to increase the decimal places.

   How to select a cell or a range

   To select	Do this
   A single cell	Click the cell, or press the arrow keys to move to the cell.
   A range of cells	Click the first cell of the range, and then drag to the last cell, or hold down SHIFT while you press the arrow keys to extend the selection. You can also select the first cell of the range and then press F8 to extend the selection by using the arrow keys.
   A large range of cells	Click the first cell in the range, and then hold down SHIFT while you click the last cell in the range. You can scroll to make the last cell visible.
   All cells on a worksheet	Click the Select All button. To select the entire worksheet, you can also press CTRL+A. Note  If the worksheet contains data, CTRL+A selects the current region. Pressing CTRL+A a second time selects the entire worksheet.
   Nonadjacent cells or cell ranges	Select the first cell or range of cells, and then hold down CTRL while you select the other cells or ranges. You can also select the first cell or range of cells and then press SHIFT+F8 to add another nonadjacent cell or range to the selection. Note  You cannot cancel the selection of a cell or range of cells in a nonadjacent selection without canceling the entire selection.
   An entire row or column	Click the row or column heading. Row heading  Column heading  You can also select cells in a row or column by selecting the first cell and then pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW KEY (RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW for rows, UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW for columns). Note  If the row or column contains data, CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW KEY selects the row or column to the last used cell. Pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW KEY a second time selects the entire row or column.
   Adjacent rows or columns	Drag across the row or column headings. Or select the first row or column; then hold down SHIFT while you select the last row or column.
   Nonadjacent rows or columns	Click the column or row heading of the first row or column in your selection; then hold down CTRL while you click the column or row headings of other rows or columns that you want to add to the selection.
   More or fewer cells than the active selection	Hold down SHIFT while you click the last cell that you want to include in the new selection. The rectangular range between the active cell (active cell: The selected cell in which data is entered when you begin typing. Only one cell is active at a time. The active cell is bounded by a heavy border.) and the cell that you click becomes the new selection.

   Note  To cancel a selection of cells, click any cell on the worksheet.

2. On the Formatting toolbar (toolbar: A bar with buttons and options that you use to carry out commands. To display a toolbar, press ALT and then SHIFT+F10.), click Increase Decimal once for each decimal place that you want to add.

   Tip   If the Formatting toolbar is not displayed, point to Toolbars on the View menu, and then click Formatting.

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Increase the decimal places for a built-in number format

1. On the Format menu, click Cells, and then click the Number tab.

2. In the Category list, click Number, Currency, Accounting, Percentage, or Scientific.

3. In the Decimal places box, enter the number of decimal places that you want to display.

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Increase the column width to fit the entire number

To increase column width to fit the cell contents, select the column or columns that you want to change, and then do one of the following:

• Point to Column on the Format menu and then click AutoFit Selection.
• Double-click a boundary to the right of one of the selected column headings.

• Drag the boundary to the right of one of the selected column headings until it is the size that you want.

  
  

  

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