cell won't accept formula

  • Thread starter Thread starter darynmurphy
  • Start date Start date
D

darynmurphy

I have spreadsheet that contains a few cells that won't accept
formulas. Numbers and text can be hard-keyed, but that's it. I've
tried to change the format from number to accounting, to general,
etc., no luck. Any thoughts?
 
Is the cell formatted as 'Text'?

Regards.

Bill Ridgeway
Computer Solutions
 
So what happens if you enter a formula? What formula?

--
Kind regards,

Niek Otten
Microsoft MVP - Excel

|I have spreadsheet that contains a few cells that won't accept
| formulas. Numbers and text can be hard-keyed, but that's it. I've
| tried to change the format from number to accounting, to general,
| etc., no luck. Any thoughts?
|
 
What do you see when you type in a formula?

If you see that formula string in the cell, maybe you're looking at formulas:
Tools|options|View tab|uncheck formulas

If the formula evaluates to what it should be, but the formula disappears, maybe
there's a macro at work.

Try closing that workbook and then reopen it with macros disabled. Then do some
testing.
 
What do you see when you type in a formula?

If you see that formula string in the cell, maybe you're looking at formulas:
Tools|options|View tab|uncheck formulas

If the formula evaluates to what it should be, but the formula disappears, maybe
there's a macro at work.

Try closing that workbook and then reopen it with macros disabled. Then do some
testing.

somehow it works now. When I had the problem, all that would appear
is a dash - . I would try to add up a series of numbers in a row with
a simple "sum" formula and all I would get is a dash. I didn't change
anything to make it work, so I'm really perplexed.
 
If it comes back, you may want to look at the number formatting, too.

Or even format|Conditional formatting (but that won't explain the hyphen).
 
The Accounting number format displays a hyphen for zero values. If
the cell is formatted as Accounting you may have had a result of zero.

Mark Lincoln
 

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