My formula displays just as it is, instead of calculating

[Guest]

I'm working with a spreadsheet that was passed to me, and I haven't created
it from scratch. I've added a column and created a simple formula that
simply displays in the cell instead of showing me the calculated result.
I've checked that automatic calculation is ON. The cell simply displays
=IF(D2=8,E2,"") instead of showing me the value of cell E2 or the empty
value. I've also tried various other formula; they all behave similarly.

I can't imagine what would cause the formula to display, almost like it's
being considered as a text string.....

 

[PCLIVE]

Try pressing:

Alt+`

` is directly above the Tab key.

Regards,
Paul

 

[PCLIVE]

Sorry,

That should have been:

Ctrl + `

` is directly above the Tab key.

Regards,
Paul

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your response. I should have mentioned that I had tried that.
The first Ctrl-` shows me all the formula on the sheet, and the second
returns all the cells back to their calculated results, except for cells in
my new column, which remain displayed as formula.

 

[Gord Dibben]

Mark

Your new column was pre-formatted as text.

Change format to Generl then F2 and ENTER on the cells.

If you have a great whack of these to do, Edit>Replace

what: =

with: =

Replace all.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

 

[Guest]

Thanks very much Gord, that solved everything. I was all around this
solution myself, but didn't recognize the sequence of both changing the type
and re-executing the expression. You learn something new every day.....