FORMULAS IN CELLS APPEARING AS TEXT IN THE CELL

[Guest]

I have this problem over and over, in 2003 and 2007; sometimes if i change a
formula, the formula will appear then in the cell as text instead of the
value or string calculated by the cell, and i cannot get it to change, unless
i copy the original formula from another cell in the same column. Or, even
worse, sometimes whole columns will not accept formulas of any kind, they
will just display the formula in the cell as text. In that case i have to
delete the whole column and insert a new one and then it is ok. What gives?
Can i fix this? Thanks

 

[Guest]

This might be something you have already thought of, bu tht ething that keeps
catch me out is forgetting to put the "=" in front of the formula - that
stays as text. Otherwise check the settings under tools-Options-View-Window
options - "Formulas" should not be checked.

Victoria

 

[Guest]

Hi,

If the cell was preformatted as text then yes the formula will appear rather
than the result, you need to format the cells as General or other depending
on the result you want, but just formatting the cell will not work you need
to re-enter the formula by selecting the cell and hitting F2 then ENTER, if
you have a whole column like this then a faster way is to select the column
then go to DATA/Text to column, NEXT, NEXT and FINISH... this method only
works if you select consecutive cells in a column, will not work with rows.

HTH
Jean-Guy

 

[Guest]

I would check to see if the cell is formatted at text? If this is the case,
you should change the format (ex Generic) and your results should be
different. You may have to recopy.

 

[Guest]

thank you for writing Victoria, = sign not the problem; i don't know where
"tools" is; i am using excel 2007, so maybe you are referring to 2003. If
this is so, where do i go in 2007, if you know? Or, if you are using 2007,
maybe a more detailed instruction as to where i find 'Tools"?
thanks

 

[Peo Sjoblom]

Another way is to format the cells as general then do edit>replace and
replace = with =
that will trigger a calculation and convert the formulas


--


Regards,


Peo Sjoblom

 

[JP]

Make sure the cell or column is formatted as "General" before entering
the formula. If the formula is already there, format as "General",
then hit F2 on the cell, and hit enter, it should convert to a
formula.


HTH,
JP