Excel Number Format: currency, thousands separator, decimals, negative in red

Number formats change how a value looks — not the value. 1234.5 can show as ₹1,234.50, 1,235, or 123450% and still be 1234.5 in the formula bar.

The five-second ones

Steps: currency with two decimals

1. Select the cells.
2. Press Ctrl + 1. Number tab.
3. Category: Currency. Decimal places: 2. Symbol: ₹ (or $, €). OK.

More or fewer decimals

Home tab, the two buttons with .00 and arrows. Each click adds or removes one decimal place.

Thousands separator only

Ctrl + 1 › Number › tick Use 1000 separator.

Custom: negatives in red with brackets

Ctrl + 1 › Custom › type:

#,##0.00;[Red](#,##0.00)

Before the semicolon is positive, after is negative.

Indian lakhs and crores

[>=10000000]##\,##\,##\,##0;[>=100000]##\,##\,##0;##,##0

Check it worked

Click the cell. The formula bar still shows the raw number — only the cell display changed.

Common mistake

Numbers stored as text ignore all formats. Left-aligned with a green triangle? Click the icon › Convert to Number.