Using a leading single quote

Question

In Excel parlance, what is using a leading single quote to display an entry verbatim? E.g., escape character, format mark, etc.

Answer 1

The leading single quote (') is generally called a text prefix or apostrophe prefix. It tells Excel to treat the following entry as text rather than interpret it as a number, date, formula, or other value.

It is not normally called an escape character. An escape character is a broader programming concept used to change how the following character is interpreted. In Excel, the more precise terminology is text prefix. For example, entering '2/31 causes Excel to display 2/31 exactly as entered, rather than attempting to interpret it as a date.

The apostrophe itself is not displayed in the cell. It is essentially a formatting instruction to Excel that says, "treat this entry as text."

---

If the above response helps answer your question, remember to "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

hth

Marcin

Answer 2

In Excel, a leading single quote is used to force the entry to be treated as text, so the content is displayed literally instead of being interpreted as a number or formula. The provided material describes single quotation marks as delimiters or qualifiers in some Excel contexts, but it does not provide a specific Excel term for the leading single quote itself beyond that behavior.

---

References:

• Retain zeros in a cell - Microsoft Q&A How do I enter a number but retain the zeros at the beginning? The numbers will all be different lengths - I thought of creating a custom number but can't get it to work. TIA
• XlTextQualifier enumeration (Excel)