How to Copy a Number Without the Currency Symbol
By Khushi Yadav
An Excel cell that shows $1,234.50 usually stores the plain number 1234.5; the dollar sign and comma are only number formatting. Inside Excel, copy the cell and use Paste Special > Values (Ctrl+Alt+V, then V) to paste the bare number. When you paste into another app, Excel sends the text as displayed, symbol included, so first make a helper column formatted as a plain number and copy that instead.
Paste a bare number inside Excel
- Select the cells and press Ctrl+C.
- Click the destination cell.
- Press Ctrl+Alt+V to open Paste Special (or Home > Paste > Paste Special).
- Choose Values and select OK.
Values pastes the values without their number formatting or formulas, so the destination gets 1234.5. Set the destination cells' format to Number or General if they already have a currency format.
Other options in the same dialog:
- Values and number formats keeps the currency format. Not what you want here.
- Formulas pastes formulas, which break if they point to cells that don't exist in the new place. See copying Excel formulas vs values.
Copy a number into another app or a web form
When you paste an Excel cell into Notepad, a browser form, an email or a terminal, Excel sends the text as it appears in the cell: $1,234.50. Change what the cell displays first:
- In an empty column, enter a formula pointing at the original, for example
=A2. - Format that column as Number with the decimal places you want and Use 1000 Separator (,) cleared. Or skip the formatting step and use
=TEXT(A2,"0.00"), which always gives two decimals and no symbol. - Copy the helper column and paste it where you need it.
TEXT returns text, so use it only for pasting elsewhere. For further calculation in Excel, keep the numeric version.
If the destination also rejects decimal points or expects a comma as the decimal separator, match its format in the TEXT format code or the column's number format before copying.
Turn text like "$1,234.50" into a number
Sometimes the cells really contain text, typically after pasting from a web page or a PDF. Check the formula bar: a number shows 1234.5, text shows $1,234.50. Text values are also left-aligned by default.
To convert, use a helper column:
=VALUE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"quot;,""),",",""))Then copy the helper column and use Paste Special > Values over the original. Change "quot; to "€", "£" or another symbol as needed.
If negative amounts are shown in parentheses, as in ($1,234.50), turn the opening parenthesis into a minus sign and remove the closing one too:
=VALUE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"quot;,""),",",""),"(","-"),")",""))Don't run these formulas on cells that are already numbers; use Paste Special > Values for those. For text outside Excel, find and replace in an editor does the same job; see how to clean up pasted text with Find and Replace.
Watch out for accounting formats and locales
| What the cell shows | What's usually stored | What a text paste gives you |
|---|---|---|
$1,234.50 | 1234.5 | $1,234.50 |
($1,234.50) in Accounting format | -1234.5 | ($1,234.50) |
1.234,50 € in a European locale | 1234.5 | 1.234,50 € |
1.23E+06 | 1230000 | 1.23E+06 |
The Accounting format always shows negative numbers in parentheses. If you strip only the $ from the text, you're left with (1,234.50), which many forms won't read as negative. Paste values or use the helper-column method instead.
Locale matters too. 1.234,50 and 1,234.50 are the same number in different regional formats. Format the helper column for the system you're pasting into.
Hidden rows
Desktop Excel usually leaves out rows hidden by a filter when you copy, but rows you hid by hand are copied along with the rest. To copy only what you can see, select the range, press Alt+; to select visible cells only, then copy. How to copy only visible cells in Excel explains when this matters.
FAQ
Why does Ctrl+Shift+V not remove the dollar sign?
Paste-without-formatting removes fonts and colours, not characters. When Excel sends $1,234.50 as text, the $ is part of the text. Change the cell's format, or use a helper column, before copying. How to paste without formatting on Windows covers what plain-text paste does.
How do I copy numbers without the thousands separator?
Format a helper column as Number with Use 1000 Separator (,) cleared, or use =TEXT(A2,"0.00"), then copy that column.
How do I make sure only two decimals are copied?
Round in a helper column with =ROUND(A2,2), or use =TEXT(A2,"0.00") when the number is going to another app, then copy that column.
Related reading
- How to Copy Values, Not Formulas, in Excel
- How to Copy Only Visible Cells in Excel (Alt+;)
- Excel and Clipboard History: What Win+V Actually Keeps
- How to Copy a Table From a Website Into Excel or Word
Sources
- Paste options (Microsoft Support) — Paste Special, Values, Values and number formats, Ctrl+Alt+V.
- Format numbers as currency in Excel (Microsoft Support) — Currency and Accounting formats, negative numbers in parentheses.
- SUBSTITUTE function (Microsoft Support) — replacing characters in text.
- VALUE function (Microsoft Support) — converting text that looks like a number.
Khushi Yadav writes Edge Drop's workflow and design guides and is a B.Tech Computer Science Engineering student. Khushi's posts are checked against Microsoft's documentation and the Edge Drop fact sheet.
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