Barcode Scan result is errant in MS Excel, good data in Notepad/G Sheets

[bmoreskimore]

Hi,
New user, posted MS Excel problem here, despite ref to other software. Feel free to move the post to another section of the site if you need. I think the problem and related question are MS Excel based.

I use a Manhattan barcode scanner to read both UPS and FedEx 1D barcodes (FedEx is Code 128 type) to store customer package tracking in Excel for validation if we misplace an order during the course of the workday/week. We count the number of packages and if we are ever off by one or more packages, we validate every tracking number by vlookup against each carrier's respective report of all tracking numbers created for that day. Scanner reads UPS barcode every time regardless of program. (Notepad, Google Sheets, MS Excel) Scanning the FedEx barcode into Notepad or Google Sheets provides a complete result. However, scanning the barcode to MS Excel provides a result that we cannot use to verify. In below examples, "XXXXXXXXXX" is our account number with FedEx, which I left out for privacy reasons.

Notepad result (unedited)
9632001960XXXXXXXXX2077803746447
Google Sheets result (unedited)
9632001960XXXXXXXXX2077803746447
Unedited MS Excel result
9.6320019E+33
... after formatting cells to number and removing the default two decimal places to get rid of Scientific Notation, this is the result of the MS Excel scan - or any subsequent scan into the same column (new cell)
963200196000000000000000000000000

That becomes useless because the unique tracking number segment is lost, so all scans provide useless results. Somehow the software interprets any scan into the formatted cells as just the first 9 legitimate digits from the barcode scanner followed by all zeros. I know the barcode contains the other data and the scanner pulls it correctly because of the results of the scan into the other programs. However, I cannot find anything on Microsoft's support site on configuring the ingestion of a proper barcode scan. The only thing I have found support for on Code 128 on their site or Google results, is how to get MS Excel to generate a Code 128 barcode from text input to the software. Not what I need.

I need to store the 777803746447, which is the tracking number. I can get it with a formula in Google Sheets by pulling the =right(cell,12) formula for each scan. That's what I would do in MS Excel if it gave me the complete string as scanned. Why not just use Google Sheets... Warehouse Manager states that Sheets intermittently fails to scan each box for some cell error reason. User doing the scanning is a warehouse expert, not an excel/IT expert. When we process over a hundred packages a day, I need a stable solution. MS Excel is stable, but gives me junk data. Can you help with configuring the program so that it will store the scanned barcode information correctly and completely?

(If I had the scanned data, next steps would be to compare to two different reports from the carriers to find which package was missed if the day's total count did not match. I'd do that with 2 vlookups. If there is a more elegant VBA-type solution to the big picture to capture and validate, that is also fine. I have some VBA experience with low level macro writing/editing, but in a small business there are also other fires for me to go put out, so elegance is not necessary here.)

Thanks

 

[NoSparks]

Maybe this will help

Long numbers are displayed incorrectly in Excel - Microsoft 365 Apps

Describes how to show long numbers in Excel cells.

docs.microsoft.com

 

[bmoreskimore]

Thanks NoSparks. I was able to configure the scanner to append a leading apostrophe and that let me enable the bandaid approach prior to a real system upgrade. Appreciate the help.