How to Add Quotes Around Numbers or Text in Excel

—

by

Himanshu
in

🎥 The Problem Begins…

Meet Aman, a data analyst at a film production house in Mumbai. One fine Monday morning, his boss (let’s call him Kabir, the no-nonsense producer from War) walks in and says:

“Aman, I need this actor list uploaded to our website, but make sure every name is in double quotes — our software won’t process it otherwise!”

Aman opens Excel and sees this:

Actor Name
Shah Rukh Khan
Deepika Padukone
Ranbir Kapoor

But he needs it to look like this:

Actor Name (Quoted)
“Shah Rukh Khan”
“Deepika Padukone”
“Ranbir Kapoor”

😰 Aman panics for a moment… but then remembers his Excel skills💪

🎯 When Do You Need to Add Quotes?

You might need quotes:

  • When exporting data for CSV/JSON formats.
  • When uploading content to websites or software tools.
  • When writing formulas or generating coded strings.
  • When automating SMS or WhatsApp messages.

✅ Method 1: Using Concatenation Formula

You can use & to join quotes and cell contents:

="""" & A2 & """"

🔍 Breakdown:

  • """" → represents one actual ".
  • A2 → your text or number.
  • Final result: “Shah Rukh Khan”

✅ Method 2: Using CONCAT or TEXTJOIN

If you prefer function-based formulas:

=CONCAT("""", A2, """")

or

=TEXTJOIN("", TRUE, """", A2, """")

✅ Method 3: Apply Quotes to a Range in Bulk

If you want to process an entire range:

  1. Create a helper column with the formula.
  2. Drag down.
  3. Copy → Paste as Values.
  4. Use “Find & Replace” if needed to remove or adjust quotes.

✅ Example with Numbers

Let’s say Salman Khan’s movies have these budgets:

Budget (in Cr)
200
150
300

You want:

Quoted Budget
“200”
“150”
“300”

Use the same formula:

="""" & A2 & """"

Yes, it works for text, numbers, dates — anything.

🔥 Bonus: Single Quotes Instead of Double

Want single quotes (')?

="'" & A2 & "'"

📣 Want to Learn More Excel Magic?

🎓 Join Mastering MS Excel Course
Learn data cleaning, formula tricks, automation, and real-life use cases like this — with Indian examples and business logic.

🎬 The Ending?

Aman sends the file in 2 minutes.
Kabir looks at it, nods, and says…

“Mission accomplished, Mr. Excel!”

Roll credits. 🎞️

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