3. Data Types: Numbers, Text, Dates, Logic

Excel works out the type of whatever you enter:

• a number is right-aligned: 1250, 3.5, 12%. In US settings the decimal part is separated with a period;
• text is left-aligned: Seattle. You cannot do math with text;
• a date looks like 3/15/2026. Under the hood it is a count of days, which is why dates can be subtracted;
• a logical value is TRUE or FALSE.

If a number must be stored as text (a part number like 00123, a phone number), type an apostrophe first: '00123. Otherwise Excel drops the leading zeros.