Formatting in Excel 2010

[Franky]

Hello all,

In Excel 2010 there are many formats for cells in Home > number group > drop-down list. And also by Format Cells dialog box.
My question is, why we use those formats? Is there any benefit for it please?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

What is "number group"? I don't see that on my Excel 2010 screen.

Are you asking why cells can be formatted in many ways?

Personal preference is one reason.

More explanation needed.

 

[Franky]

In Home tab, there is some group named Number.
Why we format cells? Just for appearance?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Appearance, national or regional custom, readability, company standards, pure personal preference, style standards, etc.

 

[Franky]

Thank you very much.

 

[strollin]

One really obvious answer would be to be able to convey that the number was a currency value or not. For instance the number 123.45 might be a currency value or just a decimal value. However, if we format it like $123.45, it's obvious that it's a currency value.

Something like that may not be important if you created and used the spreadsheet for yourself and no one else ever looked at it but if you sent it to a co-worker who had no prior knowledge of the spreadsheet, it could make things much clearer for them.

 

[Franky]

Thanks so much for your help