When working with percentages in Excel, you need to be aware of how the program interprets your data. By default, Excel sees any number entered as a percentage if it is formatted as such. For example, if you type "10%" into a cell, Excel will automatically format the cell as a percentage and multiply the number by 100. This can lead to some confusion, especially when working with large numbers. To avoid this, you can control how Excel interprets percentages by using the following steps:

1. Open the Format Cells dialog box by pressing Ctrl+1. You can also right-click on the cell and select "Format Cells" from the drop-down menu.
2. Select the "Number" tab and then choose "Percentage" from the list of options.
3. Click "OK" to close the dialog box and apply the changes.

Now when you type in a number, it will be interpreted as a percentage. However, there is one more thing to keep in mind. By default, Excel rounds percentages to two decimal places. So if you type "10.5%" into a cell, it will be displayed as "10.50%". If you want to change this behavior, you can do so by following these steps:

4. Open the Format Cells dialog box by pressing Ctrl+1. You can also right-click on the cell and select "Format Cells" from the drop-down menu.
5. Select the "Number" tab and then choose "Percentage" from the list of options.
6. In the Decimal places field, enter the desired number of decimal places. For example, if you want percentages to be displayed with four decimal places, you would enter "4".
7. Click "OK" to close the dialog box and apply the changes.

Controlling how Excel interprets percentages

Changing the defaults

1. Open the Format Cells dialog box by pressing Ctrl+1. You can also right-click on the cell and select "Format Cells" from the drop-down menu.