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Numbers

Get it right when it counts

We usually use numerals (1, 2, 3, and so forth) instead of spelling out the number.

When representing specific statistics or examples, use numerals for all numbers up to a billion even if at the beginning of the line or sentence.

Spell out casual expressions (You’re one in a million).

Spell out ordinal numbers (first) up to and including ninth when indicating sequence or location (except in geographic, military, or political names). Use figures starting with 10 (He was second in the match, but 12 in the tournament.).

In marketing and some long-form content (like blogs), there may be variations.

Use numbers for the following:

Examples

  • Percentages (12%, 0.4%)
  • Groups (1 of 10 groups)
  • Ratios (ratio of 2 to 1)
  • Decades (the 1980s, ’80s)
  • Age for people and animals, but not things (An 8-year-old girl; A girl, 8 years old; A five-year-old tax law).

Different languages format numbers differently. We call out some of the differences. To make sure we format numbers appropriately, work with regional content designers.

Examples

  • We gathered insights from 6,058 individuals in 20 midmarket cities in the UK.
  • That one photo generated thousands of comments.
  • First, enter your email address.
  • 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
  • $500M
  • $20B
  • $25K

Abbreviating the word "number"

The preferred abbreviation for number is no. with a period.

Don’t use # in place of the word number unless there are significant space restrictions, such as in a mobile screen.

Check with regional content designers for acceptable abbreviations in specific countries. For example, is the accepted abbreviation in France.

Bold numbers

You can use bold to highlight user interface elements such as numbers in instructional text. Don’t use it just for emphasis.

Use only one treatment at a time (color, bold, italics, indentation). If the ghost text in a form field is already italicized or a distinct color, don’t make it bold too.

Examples

  • In the Search field, enter lmnop.qrs.
  • Enter this validation code: JFI129-XMW8R-32U47.

Currency

For negative amounts, place the minus symbol in front of the currency symbol.

You can specify which country by adding the currency code after the amount if needed.

Australia

Examples

  • $25 (most common)
  • $25.00
  • -$25
  • AUD$25.00 (only when relevant, like when comparing overseas prices)

Brazil

Leave a space between the currency symbol and the amount, and use a comma to separate Brazilian reais and cents.

Examples

  • R$ 25 // R$ 25,00
  • R$ 1.234,50

Canada and US

Don’t add a space between the currency symbol and the amount ($10.20, not $ 10.20).

If you’re displaying currency in dollars and the amount is less than one dollar, use the cents symbol. Example: 25¢. It helps with accessibility and clarity. But if you’re presenting this in product (as in entry fields), it should be 0.25 with no cents symbol.

Examples

  • -$25
  • 50¢
  • $25.00 CAD (in cases where multiple local currencies are supported–like a purchase on an international website)
  • $25.00 USD

France

Don’t add a space between the currency symbol and the amount (€10, not € 10).

Examples

  • €25
  • 25 euros
  • €25.50
  • €25 000.50

UK

Don’t add a space between the currency symbol and the amount (£10, not £ 10).

Examples

  • £3.50
  • £100,000.00 (or just £100,000)

Dates



For placeholder text in form fields, use lowercase letters (ex: mm/dd/yyyy).

Don’t use ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) in dates.

For month and year only, use Month yyyy. If you're talking about fiscal years and must shorten, use FY and the last two digits of the year with no spaces (FY22, FY23). This is jargon, so make sure it's right for the audience.

Spell out days of the week when you’re referencing specific dates. Only abbreviate months in 3 letters (like Mar, Aug, Oct) for UI elements like tables, links, and footers.

In extreme space-constrained cases, 1-letter abbreviations are OK. Mobile uses 3-letter month abbreviations (Mar 9).

For countries that use 12 h time, capitalize AM and PM with no periods.

To indicate a decade, add an “s” without an apostrophe (1970s, 1990s).

Australia

Use dd/mm/yyyy (without a leading zero) or dd Month, yyyy.

Examples

  • 31 January, 2007
  • 30/11/2018
  • 15 Mar
  • The site will be down for maintenance on Sunday, 18 August at 9 PM AWT.

Brazil

Use dd/mm/yyyy (without a leading zero) or dd month, yyyy. Months are always lowercase.

Examples

  • 31 january, 2007
  • 30/11/2018
  • 15 mar
  • The site will be down for maintenance on Sunday, 18 august at 9h.

Canada

Use dd/mm/yyyy (without a leading zero) or Month dd, yyyy.

Examples

  • 11/11/2016
  • November 11, 2016
  • November 2016
  • Saturday, December 8
  • Mar 15
  • M-F, 7 AM to 9 PM PT
  • The site will be down for maintenance on Sunday, August 18 at 9 PM PT.

France

Use dd/mm/yyyy (without a leading zero) or dd Month, yyyy.

Examples

  • 15/06/2016
  • Wednesday, 3 November 2016
  • 14 November 2016
  • November 2016
  • 15 Mar
  • The site will be down for maintenance on Sunday, 18 August at 9 h.

UK

Use dd/mm/yyyy, dd/mm, or dd Month, yyyy.

Examples

  • 31/08/2016
  • 31/08
  • 31 Aug
  • Sunday, 18 August, at 9 PM GMT.
  • The site will be down for maintenance on Sunday, 18 August at 9 PM AWT.

US

Use mm/dd/yyyy (without a leading zero) or Month dd, yyyy.

For ranges within the same month: Sep 18–24. For ranges that span 2 months: Aug 27–Sep 1

Examples

  • 3/9/2018
  • 11/11/2016
  • November 11, 2016
  • November 2016
  • Saturday, December 8
  • Mar 15
  • Sep 1-15
  • M-F, 7 AM to 9 PM PT
  • The site will be down for maintenance on Sunday, August 18 at 9 PM PT.

Decimals

Carry decimals to the hundredth place (33.76). Omit zeroes when possible unless the number is a dollar amount.

Use decimals (0.75) instead of fractions.

Footnotes

Try not to use footnotes.

Asterisks and the footnotes that go with them slow readers down. You’re interrupting their train of thought and asking them to hunt for secondary information.

If you need to use footnotes, insert a number formatted in superscript at the end of the sentence. Corresponding footnotes live at the bottom of the page or screen.

If you need to cite legal copy, use footnotes when you’re citing more than one thing on the page. Don’t put the footnote in the middle of the sentence. Put it at the end instead. And don’t use multiple footnotes in one sentence. Work with your legal partner.

Examples

  • Revel Systems was ranked #1 in Top Ten Reviews: http://pos-systems-review.toptenreviews.com/ipad/revel-systems-review.html
  • Access subject to Internet provider availability.
  • The #1 iPad POS—QuickBooks Point of Sale.¹ Clear business data anytime.²

ID numbers and sensitive data

To protect our users’ privacy, we mask some of their personal information. A character is masked after a 2-second delay or immediately after another character is entered. Use black dots (●)—also called midline ellipses—to mask data (Option+8 on a Mac). Use one dot to mask each character in sensitive data patterns, such as Social Security numbers, birthdates, email addresses, and phone and account numbers.

Mask letter strings with 4 black dots, truncating no more than 4.
Mask all account numbers except the last four with four black dots. 

Check with your product information security team if you’re not sure what to mask.



  • Your account number (●●●●1234)
  • You paid from account ●●●●1234
  • Your date of birth (12/12/●●●●; 12/12/●●)
  • Your Social Security number: ●●●-●●-1234
  • Your Social Insurance number: ●●● ●●● 123
  • You gave us phone number ●●●-●●●-8437
  • We responded to your email at ca●●●@gmail.com
  • XXXXXXXXXXXX1234
  • xxxx-1234
  • ●●/●●/●●●●; ●●/●●/●●
  • ****1234
  • [NAME] 1234
  • [Name]-1234
  • ● 1234
  • (1234)
  • x-1234
  • ca***@gmail.com

Numbers with commas

Use commas in numbers with 4 or more digits (example: $5,000).

But don’t use commas in error numbers, page numbers, or addresses.

Examples

  • 1,234.56 in English = 1 234,56 in French
  • Your profit rose 4,500%

Phone numbers

Phone numbers are formatted differently depending on the country. For all locales, include the area code, leave off the country code, and don’t bold anything. Follow the formats in these examples.

Australia

Use spaces in phone numbers. Leave off the +61 before the STD code and use “ext.” for extension if needed.

Examples

  • 04 1234 5678
  • 1234 5678 ext. 753
  • 0422 123 456 (mobile)

Brazil

Use dashes in most phone numbers and use a space to separate the area code. For 0800 numbers, use spaces. Use ramal for extension if needed.

Examples

  • 11 99999-5060
  • 3456-6070 ramal 234
  • 0800 047 4094

Canada

Use dashes in phone numbers. Leave out the 1 before the area code except for toll free numbers, and use “ext.” for extension if needed.

Examples

  • 123-456-7890
  • 123-456-7890 ext. 234
  • 1-888-829-8589 (toll free)

France

Use spaces between sets of 2 numbers and leave out the +33 before the number. For toll-free numbers, don’t use a space between the 4 digits.

Examples

  • 06 24 55 32 14
  • 0805 220 189 (toll free)

India

Landline phone numbers are 8 digits long and are split into groups of 4 digits.

Cities in India have 2- or 3-digit codes which are written before the phone number. Use a space between each group.

For mobile phones numbers, add the country code (+91), a space, and then the 10-digit number. 

Examples

  • 080 2245 7890
  • +91 9978902123

UK

Use spaces in phone numbers. Leave out the +44 before the area code.

Examples

  • 07986 123 456
  • 0300 123 4567 (for companies)
  • 7986 123 456 (mobile)

US

Use dashes in phone numbers. Leave out the 1 before the area code and use “ext.” for extension if needed.

Examples

  • 888-777-1234
  • 800-558-9558 ext. 1234

Time

When you need to specify the length of a video, use the 0:00 format.

Examples

  • 0:30
  • 3:26
  • 10:39
  • 1:40:12

When you’re talking about time zones within your target audience’s country, use these regional guidelines. If you’re talking about time zones outside that region (international, from the reader’s point of view), use 24-hour time with UTC offsets.

Examples

  • Singapore: UTC+6
  • New York: UTC-5

It's OK to shorten intervals of time (such as years, months, and quarters) to save space or avoid truncation issues. Use your best judgment—for example, you don't need to shorten them within a sentence, but you probably want to in a table. See more on abbreviations

Examples

  • qtr, yr, mo
  • This yr
  • Next qtr
  • $20/mo
Australia, Canada, and US time

Express time as H:MM AM/PM time zone. Include a space before AM or PM, but no periods.

It's OK to drop minutes if it's on the hour. Noon and midnight can be referred to as just that, or as 12 AM and 12 PM.

Abbreviate time zones within Australia, US, and Canada like this:

Examples

  • Eastern Time: ET
  • Central Time: CT
  • Mountain Time: MT
  • Pacific Time: PT
  • Australian Eastern Time: AET
  • Australian Central Time: ACT
  • Australian Western Time: AWT

Use abbreviations (PT, ET) when combined with a time reference (for example, 5 AM PT).

Spell out Eastern Time, Pacific Time, and so forth when standing alone without a time reference.

Note: To reduce maintenance and upkeep, we no longer refer to Standard/Daylight Time.

Examples

  • 8 AM PT
  • 11:45 PM ET
  • 3 to 4:30 PM AWT
  • 7-9 PM
  • noon
  • midnight
Brazil time

Use 24-hour time without time zones. Don't put a space between the number and the h. Noon (Meio-dia) and midnight (Meia-noite) can be referred to as just that, or as 12h and 24h.

Examples

  • 10h
  • 17h25
  • 17:25 (only when in a table, technical use, or departure board for trains/planes)
  • Meio-dia (noon)
  • Meia-noite (midnight)
France time

Use 24-hour time without time zones. Leave a space between the number and the h.

Examples

  • 13 h 15
  • 9 h
  • 09:00 (when in a table, technical use, or departure board for trains/planes)
  • 13:15 (when in a table, technical use, or departure board for trains/planes)

United Kingdom time

Use 12-hour times with periods instead of colons.

Example

  • 1.45 PM

Units of measure

Leave a space between the number and the unit of measure and use open punctuation (no periods). Use a hyphen if you’re using the number with the unit of measure as an adjective.

For Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, and UK, use the metric system.

For the U.S., use the imperial system and provide metric equivalents in parentheses after the imperial measurement where it’s useful.

Examples

  • 50 km/h
  • 35 mph
  • 10 cm
  • 25 kg
  • 25 lbs
  • 8 fl oz
  • 10 mL
  • 128 MB of RAM
  • on hold for 3 minutes
  • 3.4-GHz processor
  • 2-day workshop
  • one inch (2.54 cm)

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