Display numbers as Social Security numbers

You can format a number as a Social Security number. For example, you can format a 9-digit number, such as 555501234, as 555-50-1234.

What do you want to do?

Display Social Security numbers in full

Display only the last few digits of Social Security numbers

Display Social Security numbers in full

1. Select the cell or range of cells that you want to format.

   How to select a cell or a range

   To select	Do this
   A single cell	Click the cell, or press the arrow keys to move to the cell.
   A range of cells	Click the first cell in the range, and then drag to the last cell, or hold down SHIFT while you press the arrow keys to extend the selection. You can also select the first cell in the range, and then press F8 to extend the selection by using the arrow keys. To stop extending the selection, press F8 again.
   A large range of cells	Click the first cell in the range, and then hold down SHIFT while you click the last cell in the range. You can scroll to make the last cell visible.
   All cells on a worksheet	Click the Select All button. To select the entire worksheet, you can also press CTRL+A. Note: If the worksheet contains data, CTRL+A selects the current region. Pressing CTRL+A a second time selects the entire worksheet.
   Nonadjacent cells or cell ranges	Select the first cell or range of cells, and then hold down CTRL while you select the other cells or ranges. You can also select the first cell or range of cells, and then press SHIFT+F8 to add another nonadjacent cell or range to the selection. To stop adding cells or ranges to the selection, press SHIFT+F8 again. Note: You cannot cancel the selection of a cell or range of cells in a nonadjacent selection without canceling the entire selection.
   An entire row or column	Click the row or column heading. 1. Row heading 2. Column heading You can also select cells in a row or column by selecting the first cell and then pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key (RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW for rows, UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW for columns). Note: If the row or column contains data, CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key selects the row or column to the last used cell. Pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key a second time selects the entire row or column.
   Adjacent rows or columns	Drag across the row or column headings. Or select the first row or column; then hold down SHIFT while you select the last row or column.
   Nonadjacent rows or columns	Click the column or row heading of the first row or column in your selection; then hold down CTRL while you click the column or row headings of other rows or columns that you want to add to the selection.
   The first or last cell in a row or column	Select a cell in the row or column, and then press CTRL+ARROW key (RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW for rows, UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW for columns).
   The first or last cell on a worksheet or in a Microsoft Office Excel table	Press CTRL+HOME to select the first cell on the worksheet or in an Excel list. Press CTRL+END to select the last cell on the worksheet or in an Excel list that contains data or formatting.
   Cells to the last used cell on the worksheet (lower-right corner)	Select the first cell, and then press CTRL+SHIFT+END to extend the selection of cells to the last used cell on the worksheet (lower-right corner).
   Cells to the beginning of the worksheet	Select the first cell, and then press CTRL+SHIFT+HOME to extend the selection of cells to the beginning of the worksheet.
   More or fewer cells than the active selection	Hold down SHIFT while you click the last cell that you want to include in the new selection. The rectangular range between the active cell and the cell that you click becomes the new selection.

   Tip: To cancel a selection of cells, click any cell on the worksheet.

2. On the Home tab, click the Dialog Box Launcher next to Number.

   

3. In the Category box, click Special.

4. In the Type list, click Social Security Number.

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Display only the last few digits of Social Security numbers

For common security measures, you may want to display only the last few digits of a Social Security number and replace the rest of the digits with zeros or other characters. You can do this by using a formula that includes the CONCATENATE, and RIGHT functions.

The following procedure uses example data to show how you can display only the last four numbers of a Social Security number. After you copy the formula to your worksheet, you can adjust it to display your own Social Security numbers in a similar manner.

1. Create a blank workbook or worksheet.

2. In this Help article, select the following example data without the row and column headers.

1 2 3 4

A B Type Data Social Security Number 555-50-1234 Formula Description (Result) =CONCATENATE("000-00-", RIGHT(B2,4)) Displays the "000-00-" text string instead of the first 5 digits of the Social Security number and combines it with the last four digits of the Social Security number (000-00-1234)

1. How to select example data

   1. Click in front of the text in cell A1, and then drag the pointer across the cells to select all the text.

   2. 

2. To copy the selected data, press CTRL+C.

3. In the worksheet, select cell A1.

4. To paste the copied data, press CTRL+V.

5. To switch between viewing the result and viewing the formula that returns the result, on the Formulas tab, in the Formula Auditing group, click Show Formulas.

   Keyboard shortcut  You can also press CTRL+` (grave accent).

Note: 

• To prevent other people from viewing the entire Social Security number, you can first hide the column that contains that number (column B in the example data), and then protect the worksheet so that unauthorized users cannot unhide the data.

  For more information, see Hide or display rows and columns and Protect worksheet or workbook elements.

  Important: As a best practice, you may want to avoid storing complete Social Security numbers in your workbooks. Instead, store the full Social Security numbers in a location that meets stringent security standards (for example, a database program, such as Microsoft Office Access), and then use only the last four digits of the numbers in your workbooks.

• For more information about these functions, see CONCATENATE function, and RIGHT, RIGHTB functions.

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