How to change points to commas in Excel?

  • Semicolons are essential for the correct interpretation of figures in Excel.
  • Replacing periods with commas can be easily done using the 'Find and Select' option.
  • Windows regional settings influence how Excel handles thousands and decimal separators.
  • Using the correct separators is vital to obtaining accurate results in calculations and data analysis.

excel workbook

Semicolons play a fundamental role in the mathematical and accounting field, as separators for thousands and decimals. However, the way it is applied will always depend on the region you are in and the locale settings of the system. It is because of that, That situation usually occurs in which we need to change points to commas in Excel and here we are going to tell you everything you need to know about it to achieve it and make your system apply the appropriate separators to your needs.. It is a really simple process and it will not take too much time, even if it seems otherwise.

If you have a spreadsheet where you need to replace periods with commas or vice versa, you've come to the right place.

Change periods to commas in Excel

Something as simple as a point or a comma can completely change the figures that we express in any Excel cell.. Therefore, if you have noticed that the wrong separators are being used in your spreadsheet, we are going to tell you what you can do to fix it. First, we're going to make the replacement we need, and then we're going to review the regional settings.

Replace periods with commas

If you have a spreadsheet with a lot of figures whose decimals are separated by points, you should know that you can quickly change them to commas. To achieve this, we will rely on the "Search and select" option that will allow us to find all the points on the sheet and then change them to the character we need, in this case, a comma.

Open the book in question and click on the button «Search and Select» from the « tabHome«.

Search and Select

This will bring up some additional options, choose "Replace«.

Replace Option

Immediately, a small window will be displayed with two fields «Search" Y "Replace with«.

replace all

As their names indicate, in the first we will enter the point and in the second box, the comma. Then click on the button «replace all» and you will quickly see a window appear confirming the action. This way, you will have changed all the periods to commas in a matter of a few seconds. In addition, we must highlight that, if you want to carry out the opposite process, that is, change commas to periods, it will be enough to carry out the same process.

regional settings

Locale is an important aspect when we talk about semicolons as thousands and decimal separators. This is a section of system settings where everything related to time, date and number formats are established, which are used in a certain country and region of the world. Its relationship with Excel is found in the fact that the program takes this configuration for the use of commas or points when representing thousands and decimals in figures.

This means that, if the regional configuration of your computer establishes the use of points for decimals and commas for thousands, Excel will do it in the same way.. But, if this does not correspond to your needs, we have the possibility to change it so that the program uses the semicolons as we require.

change separators

To do this, follow these steps:

  • Open Excel.
  • Enter in «Options«.
  • Enter the section «You advanced«.
  • Locate the option "Use system separators» and disable it.
  • Enter the correct decimal and thousands separator.
  • Click on «Accept«.

In this way, you will not have to carry out the previous process to replace periods with commas, because Excel will begin to use the appropriate separators for your tasks.

The importance of using the correct separators

As we have seen so far, separators play a fundamental role in how figures are expressed in a specific country or region. So, using the right ones is essential to get the right results and also, fully understand each number that is expressed in the spreadsheet. Likewise, we have seen that the regional configuration of Windows is very important, since, from there, it is where Excel takes the settings to establish the separators. In this sense, it is relevant to know the process to configure it manually and apply the semicolon in the appropriate areas.

Taking this into account will save you a lot of headaches and will allow you to solve any problem related to this topic as quickly as possible. No matter how much data your spreadsheet handles, you will have the ability to change periods to commas in Excel in a matter of seconds with the "Find and Replace" function. As we can see, the system offers all the necessary mechanisms to deal with any problem with the separators, so that you can change them on the sheet immediately and configure the program so that the same thing does not happen in your next sessions.


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