# Change Decimal Comma to Point in Excel Amounts

- Author: FastBankConvert (https://fastbankconvert.com)
- Published: 2026-10-17
- Category: Fixing the converted file
- Canonical: https://fastbankconvert.com/blog/change-decimal-comma-to-point-in-excel

> Change a decimal comma to a point in Excel when European amounts arrive as text: NUMBERVALUE, regional settings, and thousands separators.
To change a decimal comma to a point in Excel, convert each amount with `=NUMBERVALUE(A2, ",", ".")`, which reads the comma as the decimal mark and the period as the thousands mark. Paste the results back as values. On a large column, Find and Replace works too, provided you swap the separators in the right order.

## Why does a decimal comma stop Excel reading an amount?

Excel reads numbers with the separators set for your computer's region. On a system that expects a decimal point, an amount written `1.234,56` has a period where the thousands mark should be and a comma where the decimal should be. Excel cannot make a number out of that, so it keeps the cell as text.

Many European banks print amounts this way: a period or a space to group thousands and a comma before the cents. When their statements are converted on a computer set up for the United States or the United Kingdom, the amount column arrives as text. The cells sit at the left, `SUM` returns zero, and sorting puts `9,00` after `10,00` because it compares characters.

The reverse also happens. A statement with decimal points, opened on a computer set to a European region, can turn `1.250` into one thousand two hundred and fifty, or leave `12.50` as text.

## NUMBERVALUE with a decimal comma separator

`NUMBERVALUE` converts text to a number using the decimal and group separators you name in the formula, regardless of your computer's region. For amounts with a comma before the cents and a period between thousands, the formula is `=NUMBERVALUE(A2, ",", ".")`. Fill it down a helper column, check it, then paste as values.

Microsoft's [NUMBERVALUE function reference](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/numbervalue-function-1b05c8cf-2bfa-4437-af70-596c7ea7d879) lists a few behaviours that matter for statement amounts. Spaces anywhere in the text are ignored, so `3 000,00` converts cleanly. A group separator after the decimal mark, or a decimal mark used twice, returns `#VALUE!`. An empty cell returns 0.

### Five example amounts

The amounts below are examples, not real statement data. Each is in A2 of its own sheet.

| As printed | How Excel holds it | Formula | Result |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `1.234,56` | Text | `=NUMBERVALUE(A2, ",", ".")` | 1234.56 |
| `3 000,00` | Text | `=NUMBERVALUE(A2, ",", ".")` | 3000 |
| `-45,10` | Text | `=NUMBERVALUE(A2, ",", ".")` | -45.1 |
| `12,345,67` | Text | `=NUMBERVALUE(A2, ",", ".")` | `#VALUE!` |
| (blank) | Empty | `=IF(A2="", "", NUMBERVALUE(A2, ",", "."))` | blank |

The fourth row is a reading error from the conversion, not a real amount, and the `#VALUE!` flags it for you. Compare it with the PDF. The fifth row shows how to keep blank cells blank, which matters when debits and credits sit in separate columns and most cells in each are empty.

After filling down, run `=COUNT()` on the helper column and compare it with the number of amounts. A gap means some cells still failed.

## Swapping the decimal comma with Find and Replace

Find and Replace can change the separators in place without a formula, but only if you move the periods out of the way first. Replace the period with nothing, then the comma with a period. Doing it the other way round turns every comma into a period and then deletes them all, leaving amounts one hundred times too large.

### Three steps, in this order

1. Select only the amount columns. Leave the date and reference columns out, because they may contain periods and commas that are not separators.
2. Press Ctrl+H, find `.`, replace with nothing, and choose Replace All. `1.234,56` becomes `1234,56`.
3. Find `,`, replace with `.`, and choose Replace All. `1234,56` becomes `1234.56`, which Excel now reads as a number.

If the thousands mark is a space instead of a period, replace the space in step 2. A non-breaking space will not match an ordinary space typed in the Find box, so `NUMBERVALUE`, which ignores spaces, is the easier route for those files.

Keep reference columns out of any bulk replace. A long account or transfer number that loses its separators can be read as a number and shown as `1.23E+15`, and [stopping Excel scientific notation on long numbers](/blog/stop-excel-scientific-notation) explains how to keep those digits intact.

## Should you change the Excel decimal separator setting instead?

Changing the separator setting makes Excel read and show numbers the European way, which helps if most of your files use a decimal comma. It is the wrong fix for one statement, because it changes how every workbook behaves and can break files written with points. For a single conversion, a formula or a replace is safer.

Excel has its own setting under File, Options, Advanced: clear "Use system separators" and type the decimal and thousands marks you want. Windows has a wider setting in its region options that affects other programs as well.

Two cautions apply. A setting changes how amounts already stored as numbers are displayed, but it does not convert cells that are text. And the next file you open from a bank that prints decimal points will now look wrong, so you would be switching the setting back and forth.

## Decimal comma or thousands comma: reading an ambiguous amount

An amount such as `1,250` is ambiguous: with a decimal comma it means one and a quarter, and with a thousands comma it means one thousand two hundred and fifty. Excel cannot tell which, and neither can a formula. Decide from the rest of the statement before converting anything.

Look for clues in the same column. Any amount with two digits after its last separator, such as `48,90`, shows a decimal comma. Any amount with both separators shows which one comes last, and the last one is the decimal mark. The currency printed on the statement is a strong hint, as is the country of the bank.

Check one total after converting. If the converted column does not add up to the total printed on the PDF, a separator was read the wrong way. A mismatch can also come from a page converted twice, and [finding duplicate rows after PDF to Excel](/blog/duplicate-rows-after-pdf-to-excel) helps you tell those apart.

### Statements spread over several sheets

If the converter gave each page its own sheet, fix the separators once on a combined table rather than page by page. [Putting converted pages onto one sheet](/blog/convert-pdf-to-excel-sheet) shows how to stack them first. If the statement came from your bank's app, [saving a bank statement PDF on Android](/blog/save-bank-statement-pdf-on-android) covers finding the file before you convert it.

FastBankConvert is being built to return amounts in their own columns, ready to open in Excel or as a CSV. It is not open yet, so you can ask to be told when trial conversions begin at [Get started](/get-started).