.NET String.Format() to add commas in thousands place for a number

Question

I want to add a comma in the thousands place for a number.

Would String.Format() be the correct path to take? What format would I use?

Solution 1

String.Format("{0:n}", 1234);  // Output: 1,234.00
String.Format("{0:n0}", 9876); // No digits after the decimal point. Output: 9,876

Solution 2

I found this to be the simplest way:

myInteger.ToString("N0")

Solution 3

If you want culture specific, you might want to try this:

use namespace:"using System.Globalization;"

(19950000.0).ToString("N",new CultureInfo("en-US")) = 19,950,000.00

(19950000.0).ToString("N",new CultureInfo("is-IS")) = 19.950.000,00

Indian culture: (19950000.0).ToString("N",new CultureInfo("hi-IN"))= 1,99,50,000.00

Note: Some cultures use , to mean decimal rather than . so be careful.

Solution 4

Standard formats, with their related outputs,

Console.WriteLine("Standard Numeric Format Specifiers");
String s = String.Format("(C) Currency: . . . . . . . . {0:C}\n" +
                    "(D) Decimal:. . . . . . . . . {0:D}\n" +
                    "(E) Scientific: . . . . . . . {1:E}\n" +
                    "(F) Fixed point:. . . . . . . {1:F}\n" +
                    "(G) General:. . . . . . . . . {0:G}\n" +
                    "    (default):. . . . . . . . {0} (default = 'G')\n" +
                    "(N) Number: . . . . . . . . . {0:N}\n" +
                    "(P) Percent:. . . . . . . . . {1:P}\n" +
                    "(R) Round-trip: . . . . . . . {1:R}\n" +
                    "(X) Hexadecimal:. . . . . . . {0:X}\n",
                    - 1234, -1234.565F);
Console.WriteLine(s);

Example output (en-us culture):

(C) Currency: . . . . . . . . ($1,234.00)
(D) Decimal:. . . . . . . . . -1234
(E) Scientific: . . . . . . . -1.234565E+003
(F) Fixed point:. . . . . . . -1234.57
(G) General:. . . . . . . . . -1234
    (default):. . . . . . . . -1234 (default = 'G')
(N) Number: . . . . . . . . . -1,234.00
(P) Percent:. . . . . . . . . -123,456.50 %
(R) Round-trip: . . . . . . . -1234.565
(X) Hexadecimal:. . . . . . . FFFFFB2E

Solution 5

This is the best format. Works in all of those cases:

String.Format( "{0:#,##0.##}", 0 ); // 0
String.Format( "{0:#,##0.##}", 0.5 ); // 0.5 - some of the formats above fail here. 
String.Format( "{0:#,##0.##}", 12314 ); // 12,314
String.Format( "{0:#,##0.##}", 12314.23123 ); // 12,314.23
String.Format( "{0:#,##0.##}", 12314.2 ); // 12,314.2
String.Format( "{0:#,##0.##}", 1231412314.2 ); // 1,231,412,314.2

View more solutions

Comments

[Torlack]

The ":n" method is better since it should respect the user's locale.

[ANeves]

right back at you: that is true, but it's not guaranteed to respect the user's locale because it uses commas as thousands separator. (As an example, in Portugal the comma is instead the decimal separator.)

[Harini Sampath]

Or Console.WriteLine("{0:#,#}",num); if you just want to print it. But string.Format(...) is more useful I guess.

[Dan Morphis]

You can also use it with string.Format, as in string.Format("Here is some number with commas, and no decimals, {0:N0}", 123456789(;

[raveturned]

This code is not culture independent - it will use whatever default culture is set on the machine running the code. This could create undesired output where that culture places their currency symbols at the end of the number rather than the start (e.g. fr-FR), or uses more than one character to denote the currency (e.g. da-DK), or does not separate thousands using commas (e.g. most of mainland Europe).

[Stephen Drew]

How can I replicate the "N" specifier but with as many decimal digits as are present in the number?

[Roger Lipscombe]

@Justin: According to msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0c899ak8.aspx, the ',' (and the '.') are replaced with the correct localized characters.

[Clarice Bouwer]

If you want to enforce values after the . you need to replace the # with a 0. msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0c899ak8(v=vs.110).aspx: Zero replaces the zero with the corresponding digit if one is present; otherwise, zero appears in the result string whereas the "#" symbol is replaced with the corresponding digit if one is present; otherwise, no digit appears in the result string.

[stackuser83]

this method worked ok for my requirement, the msdn page about the Int32.ToString method that would be a primary place it would be used msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8wch342y.aspx isn't very helpful for this particular application either

[Valentin Petkov]

the only recommendation is string with capital S it is a convention... result is same... but String.format("{0:#,###,###.##}", MyNumber)

[Taylor Brown]

shouldn't it be myInteger.ToString("N0") ... string.tostring i don't think would work.

[AskYous]

I know it's been 5 years now, but thanks! It works for numbers > 4 characters, and < 4 characters.

[Attila Klenik]

Short and easy to read, but the integer is boxed when passed as an argument. I prefer @alchemical 's answer to this.

[HelloWorld]

When MyNumber is 0, returns an empty string instead of "0"

[DerpyNerd]

If you want to force a decimal format on your page other than the system defined format, you can change the CurrentCulture like this example: var nlBE = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("nl-BE"); nlBE.NumberFormat.CurrencyDecimalDigits = 2; nlBE.NumberFormat.CurrencyDecimalSeparator = ","; nlBE.NumberFormat.CurrencyGroupSeparator = "."; System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = nlBE;

[user420667]

This answer packed a lot of useful information. Learning by example I see now what the 0 and 1 mean in the string format.

[Nad]

for me it is not working using "{0:n0}" still gives me 2.40

[FrenkyB]

What if I want dots as thousand separator and comma as decimal delimiter?

[ToolmakerSteve]

@VVVV - then you are probably passing in a string instead of a number. If you have a string, you need to first convert to float or double. Try string.Format("{0:n0}", Double.Parse(yourValue));

[Broots Waymb]

@AskYous - Well, it also works for 4 characters.. Might as well say it works for any length.

[evilkos]

To replicate the behavior of the n specifier, but with as many decimal digits that are present in the number itself, I had to go with this format string instead #,##0.## (from another answer here)

[saulyasar]

This is working but it's changing on regional settings

[NDUF]

upvoted because it doesn't display 12,314.0 (like the n1 format) but 12,314 :)

[wha7ever]

This looks like NO.

[Roxy'Pro]

nice answer but what about 29.255,00 ?

[Maarten Bodewes]

@Roxy'Pro Change the locale / culture?

[Roxy'Pro]

@MaartenBodewes I thought there is corresponding letter like "N1", "F1" or smth like that =) But chaning culture would work definatelly..

[Nando]

string interpolation is even shorter shorthand $"{myVariable:n0}"

[coster128]

wow this is really neat and clean, didn't know c# has that, thanks!

[Neo]

but if we take 19950000 value into variable and do like this var test = "19950000"; test.ToString("#,#", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)); its not wokring

[Marco Antonio]

Bingo! (and "N0" to hide decimal)

[Michael G]

myInteger.ToString("N2") if you want 2 decimals i.e. $1,234,567.89

[John Nyingi]

This is very specific to the India Culture, it would be better to use a more generic answer.

[Chandraprakash]

I am in India, this gives wrong answer. Ex: 123456 → 1,23,456 So you need to specify invariant culture

[Chandraprakash]

I am in India, this gives wrong answer. Ex: 123456 → 1,23,456 So you need to specify invariant culture

[Luuk]

Actually it is/was 7.0, see: docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/language-reference/…

[Mohamad Osama]

Wow, really nice explanation