Day 2: Data Entry & Formatting

Excel stores dates as serial numbers — the number of days since 1 January 1900 (day 1). If a date cell shows a number like 46000, it means the cell format is set to "General" or "Number" instead of "Date". Fix it by selecting the cell and applying a Date format from the Format Cells dialog (Ctrl+1).

Format the column as Text before entering data: select the column, press Ctrl+1, choose Text. This prevents Excel from converting entries like "001234" to 1234 or "1/2" to a date. Important: formatting a column as Text after data is already entered does not retroactively fix converted values — you must re-enter those values.

Wrap Text makes long text content visible by displaying it on multiple lines within the same cell, automatically adjusting row height. Use it in header rows or comment columns where readability matters more than a compact layout. Avoid wrapping text in data columns that will feed into Pivot Tables or formulas — it has no effect on calculations but can slow rendering on large tables.

Select the cells → Ctrl+1 → Number → Custom → enter the format code: ₹#,##,##0. India uses a different grouping from the Western standard (groups of 2 after the first 3 from the right). This custom format applies the correct Indian comma placement. Alternatively, use =TEXT(A1,"₹#,##,##0") when you need the formatted value as a string.

Flash Fill (Ctrl+E) detects a pattern from one or two examples and automatically fills the rest of the column. For example: if column A has "Prashant Shukla" and you type "Prashant" in column B and press Ctrl+E, Flash Fill extracts the first name from every row. Useful for splitting names, extracting domain from email addresses, reformatting phone numbers, or concatenating parts. It works on patterns — if your data is inconsistent, Flash Fill may produce incorrect results for some rows.