02. Commas vs. Decimals

Commas vs. Periods in Different Countries

A quick note before we get started with spreadsheet applications.

Depending on your location, decimals and commas may be treated differently in spreadsheet applications (mostly in European countries) than what you will see in this course.

For this course, we will be using a convention where commas separate large values - like 1,000.00 or 1,000,000.00. On the other hand, the period will be used as the decimal separator, as you can see from these previous numbers.

You may want to assure that you are following along with these same conventions, or at least be aware of the differences you may see should you be using a different convention for commas and decimals.

Potential Solutions

Periods and Commas

https://www.officetooltips.com/excel_2016/tips/change_the_decimal_point_to_a_comma_or_vice_versa.html

  • Set Decimal Separator to .
  • Set Thousands Separator to ,

Commas and Semicolons

https://lockone.wordpress.com/2015/08/06/excel-now-using-semicolons-instead-of-commas-in-separating-formulas-fix-it-now/

  • Note you should Select English (United States) to have your formatting match what is shown in the course

After making any changes to the settings of Excel, you may need to restart your computer for the changes to actually go into effect