formula is shown instead of calculating...?

dawn · Apr 12th, 2002, 03:16 PM

I'm working on a worksheet to calculate pricing, and a few of the cells with formulas don't calculate, but instead just display the entire formula. I noticed that one cell with a formula was working properly, but when I double-clicked to adjust the formula and then "entered," the formula no longer gave me the answer, but listed the formula. I can't figure out how to correct it without "un-doing" it. It is formatted as "general", and still doesn't work. (Some formulas work. cntl+~ didn't help - thanks though!)

[ This Message was edited by: dawn on 2002-04-12 14:25 ]

[ This Message was edited by: dawn on 2002-04-12 14:35 ]

Juan Pablo González · Apr 12th, 2002, 03:19 PM

The most common thing is that THAT cell is formatted as "Text". Change that to "General" (Or something else), edit the formula, press Enter, and you should see the result.

EdE · Apr 12th, 2002, 03:32 PM

Try hitting ctrl+~. It may be that show formulas is selected.

jpegb · Apr 12th, 2002, 05:45 PM

Hi Dawn
Use Edit/Clear/All, then put the formula in again.

lynn · Apr 12th, 2002, 06:23 PM

This is a glitch in Excel 2000. If you formula refers to a cell which is formatted as text, it will switch your formula cell to text also. I think what you do is first format your formula cell to general (or whatever you need it to be), then hit F2 (or was it ctrl F2?). The answer is on Microsoft Support's site if that's not exactly the solution. Good luck Dawn!

Apr 12th, 2002, 03:19 PM	#2
Juan Pablo González MrExcel MVP Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Bogota, Colombia Posts: 11,927	The most common thing is that THAT cell is formatted as "Text". Change that to "General" (Or something else), edit the formula, press Enter, and you should see the result. __________________ Regards, Juan Pablo González http://www.juanpg.com

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Apr 12th, 2002, 03:16 PM	#1
dawn New Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 1	I'm working on a worksheet to calculate pricing, and a few of the cells with formulas don't calculate, but instead just display the entire formula. I noticed that one cell with a formula was working properly, but when I double-clicked to adjust the formula and then "entered," the formula no longer gave me the answer, but listed the formula. I can't figure out how to correct it without "un-doing" it. It is formatted as "general", and still doesn't work. (Some formulas work. cntl+~ didn't help - thanks though!) [ This Message was edited by: dawn on 2002-04-12 14:25 ] [ This Message was edited by: dawn on 2002-04-12 14:35 ]

Apr 12th, 2002, 03:32 PM	#3
EdE Board Regular Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: A Mile High!! Posts: 230	Try hitting ctrl+~. It may be that show formulas is selected.

Apr 12th, 2002, 05:45 PM	#4
jpegb New Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1	Hi Dawn Use Edit/Clear/All, then put the formula in again.

Apr 12th, 2002, 06:23 PM	#5
lynn New Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 1	This is a glitch in Excel 2000. If you formula refers to a cell which is formatted as text, it will switch your formula cell to text also. I think what you do is first format your formula cell to general (or whatever you need it to be), then hit F2 (or was it ctrl F2?). The answer is on Microsoft Support's site if that's not exactly the solution. Good luck Dawn!