13-digit number in Excel

Hi @Rayman Blackz,

Thank you for posting your question on Microsoft Q&A forum.

To format a 13-digit South African ID number in Excel as 000000 0000 000, even when treated as text, you can use a formula or custom formatting:

Using a Formula

If your 13-digit number is in cell A1, use this formula in another cell:

=LEFT(A1, 6)&" "&MID(A1,7,4)&" "&RIGHT(A1,3)

This breaks the number into three parts:

• First 6 digits
• Next 4 digits
• Last 3 digits

Using Custom Number Format

If the number is stored as a number (not text), you can apply a custom format:

1. Select the cells.
2. Right-click → Format Cells.

3. Go to Number → Custom.
4. Enter this format:

000000" "0000" "000

Note: If the number is stored as text (e.g., starts with zero), Excel won’t apply number formatting. In that case, use the formula method.

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