Cell number formatting changing when I don't want it to

[jeff.nglc]

Can anyone explain to me why when this serial number is entered:

224749411644

it is reformatted to this:

2.24749E+11

even when I have the cell numbers formatted as "General"? I have entered several thousand other serial numbers without a single instance like this.

Also, I have had to use the single tick mark (') when beginning a number w/a "0" (which is fine, and expected) though I am wondering about this as well, b/c sometimes I need to use the tick mark, and other times Excel leaves the 0s at the beginning without it. Anyone know why?

[ChemistB]

IF the cells are formatted as text (before entering the data), then the 0's will remain and you won't have the problem with the number converting to scientific notation. I do not know why it converted that specific serial number to scientific notation and left others alone (if they had the same number of digits). Excel does it sometimes when the number doesn't fit into the cell. Try making the column wider.

Chemistb
My 2¢

[jeff.nglc]

Thanks. I'll have to format all the cells in my serial number column as text, to avoid losing the 0s. My columns are plenty wide, though, so that's not an issue. I'm not too worried about it, but thought it was weird. There are, however, many different lengths of serial numbers, so maybe this one just happens to be the right number of digits so that Excel wants it in scientific notation. Just weird. Thanks for the tip, though, that was a quick response.