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google-sheets-formula

Google Sheets revert implicit numeric cast to date

I have a google sheets file that contains some numerical data. The data is formatted with two decimal places, like 30.06.

I have noticed that some of these are dates, and when I click these cells the underlying date shows up (for example, 15.1 is actually 15/01/2023). Furthermore, if I change the formatting rules for numbers and select number (Format > Number > Number), these cells appear as entirely different numbers (15.1 becomes 44941, for example)

I do not want google sheets to assume my numbers are dates. How can I:

  • Revert the date conversion applied to these data points
  • force google sheets to not convert these numbers into dates whenever I add some data to my file

Also, I would not mind replacing the decimal dots with commas. How can I do this automatically?

Solution

  • I solved everything by changing the locale of the file to Spain and replacing all dots with commas. I'm not entirely sure how it worked, but dates did not generate any problem when changing them back to numbers