Chapter 2: Number formats
Exercise 8: Show negatives in red parentheses
Task
Show negative year-over-year changes in red parentheses. Positive numbers just get thousands separators.
Moves 0 (target 1)5 difference(s) from the model
File
Font
Alignment
Number
Styles
Cells
A1Press and release Alt to show KeyTips (Windows). Ctrl + 1 opens Format Cells, Ctrl + Z undoes.
| A | B | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Branch | YoY change | |
| 2 | New York | 1200 | |
| 3 | Chicago | -800 | |
| 4 | Houston | -2500 | |
| 5 | Seattle | 300 | |
| 6 | |||
| 7 |
Show negative year-over-year changes in red parentheses. Positive numbers just get thousands separators.
This drill is for computer screens. On a phone you can review the steps.
- Select B2:B5
- Ctrl + 1 > Number > Custom
- Enter #,##0;[Red](#,##0) in Type and click OK
Key takeaway
Left of the semicolon formats positive numbers, right of it negative numbers. [Red] sets the color.
See custom number formats for details.