ONLYOFFICE · Formatting · Beginner
Format Numbers, Dates and Currency in ONLYOFFICE
Apply number, date, percentage and currency formats while checking that underlying values and precision remain intact.
Quick answer
Use Home → Number format → More formats to choose numeric, date or currency displays. Inspect the underlying values separately: a percentage needs a fraction, currency formatting does not convert money, and displayed rounding does not round calculation inputs.
Formatting is useful when the same quantity must be readable as money, a rate or a date. It changes presentation; it does not convert currencies, correct an imported text value or recover digits already lost from an identifier. This exercise produces a compact report and a separate audit column that proves the numbers stayed intact.
Before you begin
Use a new local spreadsheet in ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors, with only one sheet tab selected. The instructions use the English interface and ordinary cell ranges, not formatted tables. Formula examples use English function names and commas; if your configured formula language or separator differs, use the editor’s function dialog rather than changing the data to text.
Scope and evidence: ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors 10.0.0; local workbooks (XLSX masters and ODS exchange copies) on Windows/Linux. Documentation-qualified workflow, checked against current English help on 2026-10-19; no native execution or exact OS/build verification. macOS, hosted collaboration and receiving-program fidelity are not tested. The desktop changelog identifies 10.0.0, released October 13, 2026. The desktop overview establishes the local-file product and supported operating systems. The feature help linked below is rolling documentation, not a frozen 10.0.0 manual. Expected results here are independently calculated practice checks, not observations of a running application. No screenshots are presented as current native evidence.
Build a small display audit
Rename the active sheet Display. Enter these cells individually; do not type the backticks. Leave all other cells empty.
| Cell | Input | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | Measure |
Heading |
| B1 | Value |
Heading |
| C1 | Check |
Heading |
| A2 | Invoice |
Label |
| B2 | 1234.5 |
Positive amount |
| A3 | Credit |
Label |
| B3 | -42.75 |
Negative amount |
| A4 | Rate |
Label |
| B4 | 0.075 |
Fraction representing a percentage |
| A5 | Service date |
Label |
| B5 | =DATE(2026,10,14) |
Unambiguous date |
| A6 | Hours |
Label |
| B6 | 12.3456 |
More precision than the report needs |
| C2 | =B2+B3 |
Expected 1191.75 |
| C4 | =B2*B4 |
Expected 92.5875 |
| C5 | =YEAR(B5)*10000+MONTH(B5)*100+DAY(B5) |
Expected 20261014 |
| C6 | =B6*10000 |
Expected 123456 |
Keep C2:C6 in General format so they remain independent checks. Blank C3 is intentional. If C5 is wrong, stop: changing the date display will not correct the underlying date.
Apply readable displays
- On
Display, select B2:B3. Open Home → Number format → More formats. Choose Currency, two decimal places, and the dollar symbol for this fictional dollar report. Select the negative-number style with a minus sign. Apply it. B2 represents 1,234.50 dollars and B3 negative 42.75 dollars; separator placement can vary with regional settings. - Select B4 alone. Choose Percentage and set one decimal place. The intended display is 7.5%, not 0.075% or 750%. If you entered 7.5 instead, replace B4 with
0.075and check C4 again. - Select B5. In More formats, choose Date and a format with year first, month and day, such as the preview corresponding to
2006-04-15. The result should identify October 14, 2026. Verify C5 remains 20261014 rather than trusting an ambiguous day/month display. - Select B6. Choose Number with two decimals. It displays 12.35 while C6 remains 123456. Inspect B6 in the formula bar: the stored number is still 12.3456. A displayed rounded number is not a rounded calculation input.
- Widen columns if the result is clipped. Recheck C2 and C4: formatting should leave 1191.75 and 92.5875 unchanged.
Compare Accounting and a custom display
Select B2:B3 and choose Accounting with two decimals and the same currency symbol. Observe the documented difference: symbols align separately, negatives use parentheses, and zero amounts use a dash. Then restore Currency with the chosen minus style so the final artifact has a consistent sign convention. Never infer that a dash is missing data without inspecting the value.
For a controlled custom-format example, select B6 and open More formats → Custom. Start from the existing two-decimal Number template and edit its code to 0.000. Check the preview before applying. The target is 12.346, with C6 still 123456. If that code is rejected or localized differently in your installation, cancel and use Number with three decimal places instead; record which method you used. This example does not assume support for Excel’s entire custom-format language.
Save, reopen and check
Use File → Save as to save oo-display-final.xlsx. Close it, reopen that exact local file, and activate Display. Check B2:B6, all four audit cells, the formula in B5 and the underlying B6 precision. Preserve this final file. For additional experiments, first save a separately named oo-display-experiments.xlsx; do not rely on Undo from a previous session.
Troubleshooting
- A currency symbol changes but the amount does not: that is expected. Exchange-rate conversion requires a calculation and an explicit rate.
- Percentage is off by a factor of 100: inspect the stored fraction before adjusting decimal places.
- A number format has no useful effect: the cell may contain text. Do not bulk-convert a column of identifiers to numbers just to change its appearance.
- A date becomes a serial number in General format: that is a display choice. Use the component audit to establish which date it represents.
- A total differs by a cent from printed line items: calculations may use more precision than the visible amounts. Choose an explicit rounding policy before altering formulas.
For incorrectly imported dates or product IDs, use the CSV import guide instead of trying more display formats.