How do I write an international telephone number (ex. +46) in Excel without getting a green notification in the cell? I use Swedish language...

Question

In my spread sheet I have different formats of telephone numbers like 0124-432 45, 08-432 432 22, +46 (0)70 123 456 33, etc. I either want to write different formats without being prompted with a green notification in the cell or use a common format for all telephone numbers. How do I do it?

Answer 1

Hi Petter,

Thank you for reaching out to this forum. I'm Utkarsh and as a fellow Microsoft user, I'm here and ready to help you today. I am a user like you, this is a user forum and not Microsoft directly.

Do not worry, I will help you sort this issue, rest assured that I will do my best to assist you.

Here are some ways to write an international phone number like +46 in an Excel cell in Swedish without triggering the green notification:

1. Format the Cell as Text:

-Select the cell containing the phone number. -Right-click and choose "Format Cells". -Under the "Number" tab, select "Text" from the "Category" list. -Click "OK".

This eliminates the green formatting notification as Excel no longer recognizes it as a phone number.

2. Prefix the Number with an Apostrophe:

-Add an apostrophe (') before the phone number, e.g., '+46' -This treats the entire string as text, preventing format validation from triggering.

3. Use Custom Number Formatting:

-Select the cell. -Right-click and choose "Format Cells". -Under the "Number" tab, select "Custom" from the "Category" list. -In the "Code" field, enter the following format: "@" (without quotes) -Click "OK".

This code specifies that any text entered in the cell will be treated as plain text, regardless of its content.

4. Disable Data Validation for Phone Numbers:

-Go to the "File" tab. -Choose "Options" > "Advanced". -Under the "General" section, uncheck the box next to "Show cell formatting hints on hover". -Click "OK".

This disables the green formatting hints for all data types, including phone numbers.

Additional Tips:

Consider using the full format for international numbers, including the country code and local number, e.g., +46 (70) 1234567.

You can further modify the cell formatting to display the number in a desired style, such as bold or Italic, without affecting its data type.

I hope this information helps!

If I can be of help with anything else, please let me know. I will be glad to answer any other questions that you might have.

Warm Regards, Utkarsh