Treating Numbers Like Text

Excel evaluates each of your entries and determines whether the entry is a value or label. A mixed cell entry that contains both values and text is automatically treated like a label. For example, an address like 1750 Clint Moore Road is treated like a label.

A mixed cell entry that contains numbers and text cannot be used as part of a calculation.

You can also enter numbers in a cell and have Excel treat the entry as a label. You might want to consider telephone numbers, ZIP Codes, and invoice numbers as labels instead of values. Whenever you want Excel to treat a numeric cell entry as a text, preface the entry with a single quotation mark ('). The quotation mark is not visible in the cell, although you can see it on the Formula bar, as shown in Figure 8.1.