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How do I stop the zeros in dates in Numbers spreadsheets from disappearing? and the dates aligning to the right?

Trying to learn how to use Numbers so any help with this would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

MacBook Pro 15″

Posted on May 21, 2023 1:45 AM

Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 21, 2023 5:14 AM

Values that Numbers recognizes as Date & Time will be right-aligned by default.


Note that in your screenshoot some of your "dates" are in m/dd/yyyy format (which in your screensheet are not right-aligned) and some in dd/m/yy format, which Numbers does recognize as Date & Time and right-aligns.


You need to enter dates consistently in a format expected by the Region to which your Mac is set.


Once you have values in the cell that Numbers recognizes as Date & Time, then you can go to Data Format under the Cell tab and choose a different format if you like. These are the choices I have with my region. Your region (judging from your screenshot) will offer different choices.




SG



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4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 21, 2023 5:14 AM in response to Community User

Values that Numbers recognizes as Date & Time will be right-aligned by default.


Note that in your screenshoot some of your "dates" are in m/dd/yyyy format (which in your screensheet are not right-aligned) and some in dd/m/yy format, which Numbers does recognize as Date & Time and right-aligns.


You need to enter dates consistently in a format expected by the Region to which your Mac is set.


Once you have values in the cell that Numbers recognizes as Date & Time, then you can go to Data Format under the Cell tab and choose a different format if you like. These are the choices I have with my region. Your region (judging from your screenshot) will offer different choices.




SG



May 22, 2023 12:29 AM in response to Community User

Bazola wrote:

I don't want to change the region of my computer. So Is there a way to change the date region formatting setting for this particular spreadsheet in Numbers?


Yes! With your document open, in the menu go to File > Advanced > Language & Region ... choose English (or whatever) in the Language dropdown, and then change the Region to United States (or whatever). Those Settings will only affect that document, not your entire computer.


(Note that you may need to choose a language from the Language drop-down before the Region drop-down becomes active.)


SG



May 21, 2023 10:51 AM in response to Community User

Your region does not match your date format. It appears your region date format is DD/MM/YYYY but you are entering dates as MM/DD/YYYY. Those that are ambiguous (for example, 11/2/22 may be Feb 11 or Nov 2) are getting recognized as dates but not as the dates you think they are.


You should either enter your dates in the way that matches the region settings of your computer or set a different region for this spreadsheet, one that uses MM/DD/YY. You do that using the menu item File->Advanced->Language & Region. You will have to re-enter the dates that were previously "recognized" because they will be wrong.


Once that is done and they can all be recognized as dates, select the column and change the format to show a 4-digit year.

May 21, 2023 7:45 PM in response to SGIII

Thanks. That makes sense. I understand what's happening now.


All dates entered are in US format and my Mac should be set to UK region. So I think any dates I'm entering where the 'day' section exceeds 12, it's not recognising it as a date as you mentioned.


Is there a way I can enter US format dates and Numbers recognises this and automatically formats it to the UK format?


If not, that's fine. I'm happy to have all the dates entered stay in the US format, but I don't want to change the region of my computer. So Is there a way to change the date region formatting setting for this particular spreadsheet in Numbers?


Basically, I'm just trying to avoid having to enter in many dates manually, ha!


Many thanks for your help.

How do I stop the zeros in dates in Numbers spreadsheets from disappearing? and the dates aligning to the right?

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