This is a very simple trick to enter fractions quickly without having to manually format anything. This allows you to quickly enter fractions in the fraction format without having to first convert them to decimals and then format it separately. This will save you a lot of time.
Excel will have saved the fraction as a decimal, look to the formula bar in Step 3 above where it says 0.5. The cell will also have been turned into the Fraction number type, which is what displays the decimal number like a fraction.
If you double-click the cell with the fraction, you will see the decimal representation of it:
The zero that you type before the fraction will disappear once you hit the Enter key, so don't worry about that.
Download the sample file for this tutorial to follow along.