Stop autoformatted dates without using "format TEXT" or '

[DavidB]

First the problem- I'm trying to modify a large database with field
such as this "+12/+7/+2" by removing +'s (which are unnecessary for m
purposes) and leaving the /'s. The 'Find and Replace' function shoul
do this just fine- except it won't. Whenever I remove the +'s, what'
left becomes a date. The cells start off formatted as text, but as soo
as I 'find and replace' anything, they become date fields.

How in the heck can I get Excel to stop doing this?!?!?!

I've been googling advice on this subject for almost an hour. Almos
all the similar solutions to my problem have included- "just format th
cells as TEXT and it should work just fine" or "add an apostrophe(or
space) before your numbers and that should do it."

My problem with those "solutions" are twofold- 1) my cells supposedl
ARE formatted as text, but apparently Find and Replace can ignore tha
and change it to whatever it wants, and 2) why should I have to add i
unnecessary characters just to trick Excel into not using a "feature"
don't want it to use in the first place, especially since my whole poin
in doing this is to get rid of some unecessary characters!

So, is there a way to stop Find and Replace from applying the format i
"thinks" you want to use instead of the one you actually told it t
use?

A permanent solution to this problem would be greatly appreciated- an
by more than just me I'm sure.
-Dav

 

[CLR]

For lack of a better solution, you can use Data > TextToColumns > and use +
as the delimiter > setting all columns to TEXT and eliminating the import of
the first blank one..........then CONCATENATING the three columns back
together........if you have to do it frequently, it can be set to a
macro.......

Vaya con Dios,
Chuck, CABGx3

 

[CLR]

Just thought of another way..............first replace all / with //, then
replace all + with nothing, then replace all // with /..............

Vaya con Dios,
Chuck, CABGx3