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Sort Out Text from Numbers in Excel

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Q. My spreadsheets contain a mix of numbers and text. Is there a way for Excel to sort out the numbers from the text without setting up a complex formula?

A. The easy way is to use the Go To function. Here’s how it works. Create a spreadsheet with numbers in some cells and text in others. Then press Ctrl+G and you’ll get the Go To dialog screen. Now, in the lower left part of the screen, click on Special and that will bring up the screen at right.

If, for example, all you want Excel to highlight is text, select the Constants radio button and of the four square boxes (Numbers, Text, Logicals, Errors ), choose only Text. Then when you click on OK , Excel will highlight only the text entries and the spreadsheet will look like the screen at left.

While you’re at the Go To Special screen, you may want to try some of the other selections.