How to Apply the Comma Style Number Format in Excel

To apply the Comma Style number format in Excel, select the cells that hold your numbers, open the Home tab, and click Comma Style in the Number group. Excel adds a thousands separator to the selected numbers, so 1250000 is shown as 1,250,000, and the values themselves stay numeric.

Applies to: Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2024 and Excel 2021 on Windows, with shortcut notes for Excel for Mac. Checked against Microsoft Support on October 7, 2026.

What Comma Style does

Comma Style is a one-click number format. It changes how a number looks in the cell without changing the number Excel stores. A cell that contains 48250.5 still contains 48250.5 after formatting, and every formula that refers to it keeps using that stored value. That is the main reason to format numbers instead of typing commas by hand: a separator typed in the wrong place can leave you with text instead of a number, while a number format never changes the value. Microsoft states the same principle: applying a number format only changes how the number is displayed, and you can see the actual value in the formula bar.

The format is meant for quantities you read and compare, such as sales totals, budgets, populations, unit counts and expenses. It does not add a currency symbol, so it suits figures where the unit is already clear from a column heading.

Before you start

• The cells must contain real numbers. Numbers that Excel treats as text will not pick up the format. See the troubleshooting section below if nothing changes.
• Do not use Comma Style on identifiers such as phone numbers, invoice numbers, ZIP codes or product codes. Those are labels, not quantities, and separators make them harder to read.
• If the sheet is shared, remember that the format is saved with the workbook, so other people will see the separators too.

Apply Comma Style from the Home tab

1. Select the cells you want to format. Drag across a range, or click a column letter to select the whole column. The selected cells are highlighted.
2. Click the Home tab on the ribbon. The formatting commands appear, arranged in groups.
3. Find the Number group. It holds the Number Format box and a row of small number-formatting buttons.
4. Click Comma Style, the button marked with a comma. The selected numbers now show a thousands separator.
5. If the numbers show more or fewer decimal places than you want, click Decrease Decimal or Increase Decimal in the same group. Repeat until the display looks right.

Microsoft describes this button as the quick way to display the thousands separator in its article on how to show or hide the thousands separator.

Adjust the decimal places

Whole-number data such as headcounts or unit sales usually reads better with no decimals, while prices and rates often need two. Select the formatted cells, go to Home > Number, and click Decrease Decimal until the extra digits are gone, or Increase Decimal to show more.

These buttons change the display only. If a cell holds 1234.567 and you reduce it to no decimal places, the cell shows 1,235, but formulas still calculate with 1234.567. That can make a column of rounded-looking numbers add up to a total that seems off by one. If you need the stored value itself rounded, use a rounding formula instead of a format. Microsoft covers both approaches in Round a number to the decimal places I want.

Use the Format Cells dialog for more control

The Format Cells dialog gives you the same thousands separator plus an exact decimal setting in one place. Use it when you want to set everything at once, or when you want to turn the separator off again.

1. Select the cells you want to format.
2. On the Home tab, click the Dialog Box Launcher, the small arrow next to Number. You can also press Ctrl+1. The Format Cells dialog opens.
3. On the Number tab, in the Category list, select Number.
4. Select the Use 1000 Separator (,) check box. Clear the same box later if you want to hide the separator.
5. Set the number of decimal places you want, then confirm the dialog. The selected cells update immediately.

The Number category shown here is a plain number format. It keeps an ordinary minus sign on negative values, which many people prefer for general data.

Apply a comma format with the keyboard

Excel on Windows has a documented shortcut that applies a closely related format. Select your cells and press Ctrl+Shift+! (the exclamation point). Microsoft lists it as applying the Number format with two decimal places, a thousands separator, and a minus sign for negative values.

You can also reach the ribbon button without the mouse. Press Alt to display the ribbon shortcuts, which Microsoft calls Key Tips. Press Alt+H to open the Home tab, then press the letter that Excel shows on the Comma Style button.

In Excel for Mac, the matching shortcut is Control+Shift+!, and Cmd+1 or Control+1 opens the Format Cells dialog. The full list is in Microsoft’s keyboard shortcuts in Excel reference.

Which method should you use?

Method	Best for	What to know
Comma Style button	Fast formatting with the mouse	One click on the Home tab; adjust decimals afterward with the decimal buttons
Format Cells dialog	Setting the separator and decimals together	Opens with Ctrl+1; the same check box hides the separator again
Ctrl+Shift+!	Keyboard-only work	Applies the Number format with two decimal places and a thousands separator

Comma Style, Currency and Accounting compared

Comma Style only groups digits. It says nothing about what the number measures. When the figures are money and the sheet will be read by someone else, a currency symbol removes doubt.

• Currency is used for general monetary values and shows the default currency symbol with the numbers.
• Accounting is also used for monetary values, but it lines up the currency symbols and decimal points in a column. Microsoft also notes that the Accounting format displays zeros as dashes and negative numbers in parentheses.

So if zeros in a column appear as dashes, or negative values appear in parentheses, the cells are showing an accounting-style format. That is normal for financial statements. If you would rather see a 0 and a minus sign, switch the cells to the Number category with the thousands separator turned on, as described in the Format Cells section above. If you do want a symbol, our guide on how to add dollar signs in Excel walks through the Currency format, and the Accounting Number Format button sits in the same Number group as Comma Style.

Copy the format to other cells

Once one range looks right, you do not need to repeat the steps. Select a cell that already has the format, click Format Painter on the Home tab, then drag across the cells that should match. When you release the mouse button, Excel applies the same formatting to those cells. Format Painter copies all of the source cell’s formatting, including fonts and fill color, so copy from a cell that looks the way you want the destination to look.

Confirm it worked, or undo it

Click one of the formatted cells and look at the formula bar. The cell shows the separators, but the formula bar shows the plain value without them. That difference confirms the change is formatting only.

To reverse the change:

• Press Ctrl+Z right away to undo the last action (Cmd+Z on a Mac).
• Press Ctrl+Shift+~ to apply the General number format, which is the default format Excel uses when you type a number.
• Select the cells, go to the Home tab, and in the Editing group click the arrow next to Clear, then choose Clear Formats. This removes all formatting from the cells, not only the number format, and leaves the values in place.

For an overview of the other formats in the same list, see our article on how to change the number format in Excel.

Troubleshooting

Nothing changes when you click Comma Style

The cells probably contain numbers stored as text. This is common with data pasted from a website or imported from another system. Text-formatted numbers sit on the left side of the cell instead of the right, which is a quick visual clue. Select the affected cells, click the error notification that appears next to them, and choose Convert to Number. If no notification appears, Microsoft’s page on how to convert numbers stored as text to numbers describes other methods, including the VALUE function. After converting, apply Comma Style again.

Be careful with codes that only look like numbers. Converting them removes leading zeros, and Excel keeps only 15 digits of precision, so long values such as card numbers get rounded. Keep those as text. Our guide on how to stop Excel removing leading zeros explains the options.

Cells show ##### after formatting

The formatted number is now wider than the column. Separators and decimal places add characters, and Excel shows ##### rather than cutting a number short. Double-click the right boundary of the column heading to resize the column to fit, or drag the boundary to the width you want.

The separator is a period or a space, not a comma

By default, Excel takes its separators from the system’s regional settings, so a computer set up for another region can show 1.250.000 or 1 250 000. To override that in Excel on Windows:

1. Select File > Options.
2. On the Advanced tab, under Editing options, clear the Use system separators check box.
3. Type the characters you want in the Decimal separator and Thousands separator boxes, then confirm.

Select the check box again to go back to the system separators. Microsoft notes in Change the character used to separate thousands or decimals that a permanent change for every program is made in the regional settings in Control Panel instead.

The buttons are greyed out

The worksheet is probably protected. When a sheet is protected without the Format cells permission, Microsoft notes that users cannot change any of the options in the Format Cells dialog. If the sheet is yours, go to the Review tab and select Unprotect Sheet, entering the password if one was set. In a workbook from your employer or school, the owner may have locked formatting on purpose, so ask the person who manages the file to unprotect it or make the change for you. Microsoft’s Protect a worksheet page lists what each permission allows.

Totals look slightly wrong after removing decimals

This is the display-versus-stored-value effect described earlier. The cells show rounded numbers, but the total uses the full values. Show more decimal places with Increase Decimal to confirm, and round the underlying values with a formula if the printed figures must add up exactly.

Frequently asked questions

Does Comma Style change my numbers or formulas?

No. It changes only how the values are displayed. Formulas, sorting and charts continue to use the stored numbers.

Can I format a whole column at once?

Yes. Click the column letter at the top of the sheet to select the column, then click Comma Style on the Home tab. Text headings in the column are not affected, and numbers you type into the column later pick up the same format.

How do I get commas without any decimal places?

Apply Comma Style, then click Decrease Decimal until no decimals are shown. Alternatively, open Format Cells with Ctrl+1, choose the Number category, select Use 1000 Separator (,), and set the decimal places to 0.

Is Comma Style the same as the Number format with a thousands separator?

They both group digits, but they are separate formats and can treat zeros and negative values differently. If the way Comma Style shows negatives or zeros does not suit your data, use the Number category in Format Cells, which keeps the minus sign.

Should I type the commas myself instead?

No. A separator typed in the wrong place can leave Excel treating the entry as text, which breaks sums and sorting. Enter the plain number and let the format add the separators.

Can a formula add the commas?

Microsoft mentions the TEXT function as a way to convert a number to text in a specific number format, but the result is text, not a number. For anything you plan to total, chart or sort, use a number format on the cell.

Why does my colleague see different separators in the same file?

Excel uses each computer’s system separators by default, so the same workbook can show commas on one machine and periods on another. The stored numbers are identical.

Next, decide whether the column needs a unit. If the figures are money, switch to the Currency or Accounting format so readers do not have to guess; otherwise, set the decimal places once and copy the format across the rest of the sheet with Format Painter.

Related: make a monthly budget in Excel.