How do I change the DATA TYPE of a cell or group of cells?

I have a large spreadsheet of data which stubbornly will not change data type. when I run the type() formula on a cell, it returns the value 1, and it will not change no matter what I have tried.

This is a problem because I cannot use the data in formula (the data is numerical and wont workin vlookup forumlas)

Is there any way to FORCE these cells to become data type = 1? i.e. type(cell)= 1?

Solution 1:

Given your now stated problem with VLOOKUP, I would recommend changing the text values that look like numbers, to numbers. One way to do this:

• Select a blank cell
• Edit/Copy
• Select the range to be converted to numbers
• Edit/Paste Special / Add