Changing Indian number format (12,34,56,789) to millions (123,456,789) for all Apps (Finder, Excel, etc.) on macOS 10.14.6

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Changing Indian number format (12,34,56,789) to millions (123,456,789) for all Apps (Finder, Excel, etc.) on macOS 10.14.6

Need to change default Indian number format (12,34,56,789) to millions (123,456,789) for all Apps (Finder-Info, Excel, etc.) on latest macOS 10.14.6. It seems to be hard-configured for Macbook Pro with new macOS bought in India - while in earlier macOS versions this was configurable. Nothing is located in Language & Region or any other Settings that enables format in millions. It is not an Excel configuration issue as even Finder-Info shows file/directory size in Lakhs (e.g. 13,81,23,651 bytes). What fix gives numbers in millions?

Tx... Sinha

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Aug 18, 2019 12:17 AM

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Answer 1

bsinha Author

Level 1

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Aug 18, 2019 5:55 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

Well Tom... Hat's off to you. Problem resolved once I *rebooted* the system with English (US) language and US Dollar ($) currency settings that "earlier refused to take effect" - or so it seemed to me! This was the first personal Macbook Pro I'd purchased in India (vs company-issued MBPs that are IT-configured). Was preset with a legacy India number format - and I hadn't dealt with this before. Folks across different number format countries will benefit thanks to your advice.

As a minor note, if the 'Language and Region' dialog instructs users to reboot for changes to take effect (did I miss that?), I wouldn't have taken up your valuable time on a Sunday.

Issue successfully closed.

Thanks again

Bhartendu

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Answer 2

bsinha Author

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Aug 18, 2019 3:32 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

Problem at that link (seen earlier) is specific to Excel. Problem that I am reporting is inherent to latest MacOS. See the screenshot below where Finder->Info is reporting a directory size of 3,87,83,64,370 bytes (which is in the legacy-Indian numeric format). I.e. if Finder (in addition to Excel) is also using the legacy-Indian numeric format, then a fix must be required in MacOS, and an Excel fix won't address this. Tried all options in MacOS settings, checked many references -- but found no solution over last few hours.

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Answer 3

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,112 points

Aug 18, 2019 4:41 AM in response to bsinha

That link actually talks about the MacOS system preferences settings (which should apply to Excel as well as Apple apps).

Could you post screen shots showing your MacOS settings for Preferred Language and Region, as well as those for Language & Region > Advanced > General? I assume you have restarted your Mac after setting them?

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Answer 4

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,112 points

Aug 18, 2019 7:13 AM in response to bsinha

bsinha wrote:

As a minor note, if the 'Language and Region' dialog instructs users to reboot for changes to take effect (did I miss that?), I wouldn't have taken up your valuable time on a Sunday.

Apple tends to assume users will routinely try rebooting whenever something does not happen as expected, but it does make sense they should add that instruction in more places. You can suggest this via

http://www.apple.com/feedback

Glad to hear your problem was solved.

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Answer 5

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,112 points

Aug 18, 2019 3:01 AM in response to bsinha

Is your problem the same as mentioned here?

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/excel-for-mac-changing-comma-separation-from-lakhs/c89f1fc7-11e4-4ee1-bf3f-e8f3892adfa3

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Changing Indian number format (12,34,56,789) to millions (123,456,789) for all Apps (Finder, Excel, etc.) on macOS 10.14.6

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