How to Change Currency in Google Sheets

Anna Middleton Read more December 11, 2020

When you’re using a spreadsheet program like Google Sheets, it’s important to know how to edit number formats like currencies. This option allows you to perform your work quickly, efficiently, and accurately.

In this article, we’ll show you how to change the currency format in Google Sheets, along with other useful number formatting options.

Turn on the Currency Format for Cells

If you wish to change the formatting of cells so that they automatically use a preferred unit of currency, you can do so by following these steps:

First, select the cells you wish to format. By clicking on the row header, you can determine the format for the entire row. Clicking on the column header does the same for the entire column. To select a particular area of cells, click and drag your mouse.
On the top menu, click on “Format.”
From the dropdown menu, move the cursor over “Number.” An additional menu will appear.
If you wish to display decimal numbers, choose the first Currency option. If you want to display only whole numbers, choose the Currency (rounded) option.
If you’re creating balance sheets, you can use either “Accounting” or “Financial” as your formatting option. Both types use closed parentheses for negative or credit entries. The difference between the two is “Accounting” uses the currency symbol, while financial doesn’t.
All number entries for that cell will now follow that format. Note though that alphanumeric entries are still possible, and currency formatting will not apply to that particular data.
The default currency used when you use this particular formatting is U.S. dollars.

Using Different Currency Formats Including Custom Currencies

If you wish to use a currency other than U.S. dollars, you can choose a different configuration by selecting a custom number format. The steps to do so are as follows:

As above, select the cells to which you wish to apply the formatting.
On the top menu, click on “Format.”
From the dropdown menu, move the cursor over “Number.”
Hover on “More Formats” on the side menu that appears.
Choose and click on “More currencies.”
From the popup window click on the currency that you want to use.
If you wish to use your own currency format, then on the text box right under “Custom currencies”, and type in the symbol that you want to use.
Click on the dropdown menu inside the text box to choose whether the symbol will be placed before or after the numbers. You can also choose whether or not decimal numbers will appear or not.
Click on the “Apply” button when you’re done.

All selected cells should now have the chosen format. As above, any alphanumeric entries will not be affected. Only pure number entries will have currencies applied to them.

Other Number Formatting Options

Currencies aren’t the only numbering options that you can use for Google Sheets. There are a lot of numbering formats that you can use depending on the specific job you want to use them for. To use a numbering format, you can do the following:

To customize decimal places and thousand separators:

Select “Format” on the top menu.
Hover over “Number” on the dropdown menu.
Hover over “More Formats.”
Choose and click on “Custom Number Formats.”
Choose a formatting option from the list or create your own using the text box underneath the “Custom number” formats title.
You can use a custom currency symbol by typing in the symbol followed by an asterisk (*). The following letters and symbols will return an invalid format, though: D, E, H, M, S, Y, and @. Both small and capital letters of those listed won’t be accepted as currency formats.
Hashtags (#) signify placement of numbers. Placing a period (.) in between hashtags will indicate decimal number placements.
Commas (,) inserted between hashtags will signify thousand number separators.
Using parentheses inside further parentheses will indicate the formatting is accounting or financial. This means that negative numbers will be displayed inside parentheses. Do note that the first format code before a semicolon ( ; ) is used for positive numbers, and the next is used for negative numbers. A third will allow you to display a symbol for zero or blank entries.
Typing a color inside brackets – like [Red] for example – will change the color of that particular cell if it meets the criteria. If placed before the first semicolon, it will apply to positive numbers, and if placed before the second, it will apply to negative numbers.
Using question marks ( ? ) between slashes ( / ) will determine the format of fractions.
You can see examples of how to use the symbols by scrolling down the choices.

To choose custom date and time formats:

Click on “Format” on the top menu.
Hover over “Numbers.”
Hover over “More Formats.”
Choose and click on “More date and time formats.”
Choose a format from the list, or edit it to create your own.

A Handy Tool

Google Sheets is a very handy tool for people that need to deal with a large amount of accounting data. Being able to change the formatting options to follow particular currency or numbering specifications allows you to perform your job more efficiently.

Do you know of other ways to change the currency in Google Sheets not mentioned here? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.