Huh? I think you need to rephrase your question it appears to me
to be self-contradictory.

The default is to not check the first item then it ignores the number

What the option does with 2 decimal places is to *divide* what
you enter by 100 if you do not include a decimal point. If you
include a decimal point the option is ignored.

You can multiply by 100 by using -2 but that isn't likely of much
use to you. Again only applies when you do not include a decimal
point in your entry.

Including a decimal can be at the end of the number:
123.95
123.
123 will produce 1.23 if you have set for 2 decimal places.

I think that option applies to all of your use of Excel, it's hard to
tell the actual scope of some of the options.
---
HTH,
David McRitchie, Microsoft MVP - Excel [site changed Nov. 2001]
My Excel Pages: http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/excel.htm
Search Page: http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/search.htm

wrote in message ...
How can I set the default newly opened spreadsheet to be
globally set to say 2 decimal places please ? The Tools
option allows you to set decimal places to 2 but simply
takes any number you enter and multiplies by 100. ie
entering 1234 displays as 12.34. I want the default to be
the same as globally selecting the whole sheet and then
setting the number format to 2 decimal places.
Thanks.