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Excel how-to guide
How to isnumber validate numeric in Excel
Identify cells in an imported column where amounts or IDs are stored as text, causing SUM or AVERAGE to silently ignore them.
Step-by-step instructions
How to isnumber validate numeric — 3 steps
1
Reference the cell you want to test.
2
ISNUMBER returns TRUE for any numeric value including dates and times, and FALSE for text, blanks, and errors.
3
Use inside IF to flag or filter rows with non-numeric values.
Example data
Worked example
| Value | Is Number? |
|---|---|
| 1234 | true |
| '5678 | false |
| Amount | false |
| 99.5 | true |
Common mistakes
Errors to watch out for
Dates return TRUE
Dates and times are stored as numbers in Excel, so ISNUMBER returns TRUE for them. Use ISNUMBER combined with NOT(ISDATE) if you need to exclude dates.
Formatted numbers return FALSE
If a number is formatted as text (left-aligned, preceded by an apostrophe), ISNUMBER returns FALSE. Use VALUE() to convert it first.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How do I count all non-numeric cells in a column?
Use =COUNTIF(A2:A100,"*") to count text cells, or =SUMPRODUCT(--NOT(ISNUMBER(A2:A100))) to count all non-numeric values including blanks.
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