How To Stop Google Sheets From Rounding Numbers

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Long numbers can be quite a hassle in Google Sheets, especially when the spreadsheet application starts to automatically round them off. As a user who needs precise data, this can be a significant problem. If you’ve ever experienced this issue, this blog post is for you. We’ll explain how to stop Google Sheets from auto-rounding your numbers.

Increasing the Decimal Places

One of the simplest ways to prevent Google Sheets from rounding numbers is by increasing the number of decimal places. The standard number of decimal places is two, but you can increase this as needed.

To increase the number of decimal places, follow these steps:

  1. Select the cells where you want to prevent rounding.
  2. Click on the Format tab in the menu bar, then select Number.
  3. Click on More Formats at the bottom and in the drop-down menu, select Custom number format.
  4. In the open dialog box, type in the format with the desired number of decimal places. If you want four decimal places, type 0.0000.
  5. Click on Apply to save changes.

Changing the Cell Format to Plain Text

Your second option is to change the cell format to Plain Text. This will prevent Google Sheets from performing any kind of automatic formatting on your numbers, including rounding. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Select the cells where you want to prevent rounding.
  2. Click on the Format tab in the menu bar, then select Number.
  3. Then from the drop-down list, select Plain Text.

Using a Custom Function

If you need to keep your numbers in a specific number format, but still need to prevent Google Sheets from rounding, you can use a custom function.

You can create a custom function using Google Sheets’ Apps Script editor. Here’s a simple example of a function that will prevent Google Sheets from rounding your numbers: 

        function stopRounding(number, decimalPlaces) {
            var factor = Math.pow(10, decimalPlaces);
            return Math.floor(number * factor) / factor;
        }

To implement this function in your Google Sheets:

  1. Click on Extensions in the menu bar and select Apps Script.
  2. Copy and paste the above function into the script editor then save and close it.
  3. Now, you can use this function in your spreadsheet like any other function, i.e., =stopRounding(A1, 4).

Hopefully, these tips have helped you understand how to stop Google Sheets from rounding numbers. Remember, it’s always important to double-check your data to ensure that you’re working with the most accurate numbers possible.