When you are dealing with numbers, you need to make a distinction between the value Excel holds in a cell and the value Excel displays. They could be different.
Let's take a look at how Excel lets you have control over how many digits to display.
First
you select the cell containing a number.
Then you select Format from the Menu at the top and indicate that you want to format Cells.
(Note that all versions of Excel will not give you this exact set of choices under Format. However, all will give you the choice of Cells to format!)
When you make this selection, a panel of choices will appear letting you have many different cell formatting choices. Note the different "Tabs" across the top. We will choose the Number tab if it is not selected.
Typically,
General will be highlighted in the Category
window. We want to select the category called Number.
When we do, we will see a panel like this example. Note the circled Decimal Places field. You may enter a value there or use the up and down arrow keys to adjust the display to the number of decimal places you wish to have Excel display in the cell(s) selected.
While you are here, also notice the Use 1000 Separator box is blank. If you check it, you will see a comma separating the digits in a long number.
Look at the results of two different cell formats.
It should be clear that the value is the cell is 4.563456 and the display
in the cell is different! Someone has told Excel to only display
4-decimal places.
This could produce interesting results if this cell is used in a formula. Excel will use the cell contents not the cell display!!!
This
example shows the effect of checking the 1000 comma separator
in the Format panel. Generally, the use of the comma makes the reading of
the number easier even though it does require a slightly wider column to
display the comma.
There are other formats for numbers. You should investigate some of the other choices.