You can use a two-step process to generate a random 4 digit number in Excel:

Step 1: Use RANDBETWEEN()

=RANDBETWEEN(0, 9999)

This will produce a random integer between 0 and 9,999 (.e.g perhaps the number 468).

Step 2: Use TEXT()

=TEXT(A1, "0000")

This will add leading zeros to the number if necessary to ensure that the number has 4 digits (e.g. this would turn 468 into 0468).

The following example shows how to generate a random 4 digit number in Excel in practice.

Example: How to Generate Random 4 Digit Number in Excel

First, let’s type the following formula into cell A1 to generate a random integer between 0 and 9,999:

=RANDBETWEEN(0, 9999)

Next, we can drag this formula down to other cells in column A to generate several random 4 digit numbers:

Notice that each cell in column A contains a random integer between 0 and 9,999.

Also notice that the last cell in the column does not contain 4 digits.

To ensure that each cell in column A has 4 digits, we can type the following formula into cell B1:

=TEXT(A1, "0000")

Each cell in column B now contains a random 4 digit number.

Note that if you want to generate a random 4 digit number in a single step you can simply use the following formula:

=RANDBETWEEN(1000, 9999)

This will generate a random integer between 1,000 and 9,999.

The only drawback of this approach is that it won’t be possible to have zero as the first digit.

The following tutorials explain how to perform other common tasks in Excel: