By default, Excel calculates stored, not displayed, values The displayed and printed value depends on how you choose to format and display the stored value. For example, a cell that displays a date as "6/22/2008" also contains a serial number that is the stored value for the date in the cell. You can change the display of the date to another format (for example, to "22-Jun-2008"), but changing the display of a value on a worksheet does not change the stored value.
Use caution when changing the precision of calculations When a formula performs calculations, Excel usually uses the values stored in cells referenced by the formula. For example, if two cells each contain the value 10.005 and the cells are formatted to display values in currency format, the value $10.01 is displayed in each cell. If you add the two cells together, the result is $20.01 because Excel adds the stored values 10.005 and 10.005, not the displayed values.
When you change the precision of the calculations in a workbook by using the displayed (formatted) values, Excel permanently changes stored values in cells from full precision (15 digits) to whatever format, including decimal places, is displayed. If you later choose to calculate with full precision, the original underlying values cannot be restored.
- Click the Microsoft Office Button
, click Excel Options, and then click the Advanced category.
- In the When calculating this workbook section, select the workbook you want, and then select the Set precision as displayed check box.