XL: Minus Sign Appears Before Text in Custom Number Format

In Microsoft Excel, when you create a custom number format that contains a text string, and you apply this format to a negative number, the text string may appear between the minus sign (-) and the number.

To create a custom number format so that the minus sign for negative number appears directly before the number, you must include formatting specifically for negative numbers. For example, instead of using the following code which uses the same format for both positive and negative numbers, use the following code: The section of the format after the semicolon (;) places the minus sign to the right of the text string when the number is negative.