A formula cannot change a cell's format; it can only change the way data are displayed. And, although you could set up a complicated IF test containing the CELL("format",reference) function to test a cell's format, to obtain basic information such as date, percentage, currency, etc., it can only provide limited information about how many decimal places are displayed, whether thousands separators are used, how a date is formatted, etc.

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Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]