Data Types

Excel allows four different types of data to be entered or displayed in the cells. These are: Text, Numbers, Logical, and Error.

Text

• Text is a data type that consists of a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters. For example, Nikhil, Class 1, etc. 

Numbers

• The default alignment of numbers in the cell is to the right.
• Dates and times will be displayed based on the format selected.
• To consider a number as text, an apostrophe (‘) should be typed before the number. Excel will consider it as text and will automatically align it to the left.
• An unformatted number will be displayed in a scientific notation if it does not fit in a cell. A formatted number will be displayed as #### if it does not fit in a cell.

Logical

• Logical is a data type that consists of values in the form of TRUE and FALSE. Excel gives out these values when certain types of functions are used (discussed later). For instance, consider the Information function ISBLANK. This function verifies if a particular cell is empty or not. If the cell is empty, Excel gives out the result ‘TRUE' and if it has a value, the result will be ‘FALSE.'

Error

• Excel displays any error in the formulae. For example, an error display showing #VALUE indicates that the value that has been referred to or used in the formula is not correct.