Numbers - Creating a Custom Number Format

Creating a Custom Number Format

To define your own display format for numbers in table cells:

1

Select one or more cells.

2

Do one of the following:

Choose Custom from the Cell Formats pop-up menu in the format bar.

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Choose Custom from the Cell Format pop-up menu in the Cells inspector.

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Choose Format > Create Custom Cell Format.

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Format field

Drag the elements to
the format field.

3

From the Type pop-up menu, choose Number & Text.

4

Define your number format by dragging the (blue) elements from the Number & Text

Elements box into the format field above the box.

Click a disclosure triangle to
choose a formatting option.

Integers: Add this element when you want to format digits to the left of a decimal
point. See “Defining the Integers Element of a Custom Number Format” on page 104
for more information.

102

Chapter 4

Working with Table Cells

Chapter 4

Working with Table Cells

103

Currency: Add this element to display a currency symbol. To identify the symbol you
want to use, click the disclosure triangle visible on the element when it’s in the format
field and choose a symbol. You can maximize the choices in the pop-up menu by
selecting “Show complete list of currencies in Cells inspector” in Numbers preferences.
Decimals: Add this element to format how decimal digits are displayed. See “Defining
the Decimals Element of a Custom Number Format” on page 105 for more information.
Spaces: Use this element to control the amount of space displayed between elements.
Click the disclosure triangle visible on the element when it’s in the format field and
choose an option. Normal adds a standard space, Wide adds an em space, and Narrow
adds a sixth of an em space. You can add more than one Spaces element to the format
field with these options, but only one of the Spaces elements can be Flexible; this
option left-aligns the elements that precede it and right-aligns elements that follow it.
Scale: Use this element to size the display value of a number. For example, you can
display values over 100 as number of hundreds (1000 displays as 10). See “Defining the
Scale of a Custom Number Format” on page 106 for more information.

5

To display predefined text before or after any element, place an insertion point in the

format field and then type your text. You can click any element and use the Left Arrow
and Right Arrow keys to place the insertion point.

6

To delete an element in the field, select it and then press Delete.

To move the element around in the field, drag it.

7

In the Name field, type a name for your number format.

Custom format names are listed in the Cell Formats pop-up menu in the format bar
and in the Cell Format pop-up menu of the Cells inspector.

8

Click OK to save your number format and apply it to the selected cells.

Here’s an example of a number format:

Balance:-$ #,### .##

The hyphen is a Spaces element, set to display one Normal space between the

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currency symbol and the number.
The dollar sign is a Currency element.

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#,### is an Integers element that displays numbers greater than 999 with a

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thousands separator.
.## is a Decimals element.

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