Tables in MS Office - lining up columns with decimal points

[TUS 373]

Can anyone please share with my their quick tips for aligning figures in a column in table and centralising them so that decimal points line up on a vertical grid line?

It is really easy to centralise anything in a cell or a column, but getting all the decimal points on the same vertical is proving more difficult!

With thanks.

[BliarOut]

If it's just to 2DP the easiest way is to right align the values.

[SGirl]

If you're working in Word, you can select a type of tab which aligns all the decimal points down a column.

[twister]

Open the Format Cells dialogue, bring the Number tab to the front, and select Custom Category. In the "Type:" field enter ??????????.0????????? (you need to have at least as many ?'s on either side of the decimal point as you have digits either side of it in your data - the more you add the more blank space Excel will add to either side of the data). Select your cell alignment (Left, Centre etc.) as usual, and that should be that.

Note: the 0 immediately after the decimal point automatically appends .0 onto any data which doesn't already have a decimal point.

[Miles_stylus]

specifically the tab that you want is the one that looks like and upside down T (as in the centre tab) with a dot - click on the box top left between the two rulers

Then tab each value and hey presto!

HTH

Miles