Need to put an exclamation point at the start of each cell in a long column

Question

Hello
I'm new to spreadsheets and need to do this task asap. Hope someone can tell me how to do it.
I could go down the column and type an exclamation in before each number, but for 400 cells but I'd rather not.
Thanks for any help
Dave L

Answer 1

If these "numbers" are to be used in formulas, though, you'll have to do this a different way. You will create a custom format that puts an exclamation point in front of the numbers as you see them on the screen but doesn't actually change the contents of the cells (so they remain as numbers).
Go to the cell inspector (the "42" tab in the inspector).
Click on "Cell Format" and choose "Custom".
Type an exclamation point at the left of the existing format. To do this, click on the existing format, hit the left arrow, then type the exclamation point. You may also want to add in a "decimals" format on the right if your numbers are not whole numbers. Give the format a name. Click "OK".
Choose the rest of your column and apply the cell format to it (select the entire column, go into the cell inspector, and choose whatever you named the format you made).