| 0 | Forces digit display or 0 |
| # | Optional digit display |
| , | Forces display of thousands |
| . | Forces display of decimals |
| E+ | Forces signed exponent display |
| E- | Optional sign exponent display |
| ; | Separator of +ve and -ve and zero values |
| Format string | 1234 | -1234 | 0.5 | 0 |
| 1234 | -1234 | 0.5 | 0 | |
| 0 | 1234 | -1234 | 1 | 0 |
| 0.00 | 1234.00 | -1234.00 | 0.50 | 0.00 |
| #.## | 1234 | -1234 | .5 | |
| #,##0.00 | 1,234.00 | -1,234.00 | 0.50 | 0.00 |
| #,##0.00;(#,##0.00) | 1,234.00 | (1,234.00) | 0.50 | 0.00 |
| #,##0.00;;Zero | 1,234.00 | -1,234.00 | 0.50 | Zero |
| 0.000E+00 | 1.234E+03 | -1.234E+03 | 5.000E-01 | 0.000E+00 |
| #.###E-0 | 1.234E3 | -1.234E3 | 5E-1 | 0E0 |