Data that looks like a cell reference but isn't - how do I make Excel see it as a string.

[DoubleBitAxe]

I have data in a table that looks like a cell reference (namely, they are part numbers of the form N######) with parameters about each part. I am trying to use VLOOKUP to find the part of interest and extract particular parameters, but for numbers below 200000, for example N123456 excel sees it as a cell reference and looks for the value in cell N123456, which is typically a blank cell.

Is there a way to tell excel that I want it to use the value in the cell, not treat it as a reference? Sort of like the opposite of the INDIRECT function?

Thank you in advance.

 

[RoryA]

Welcome to the forum.

Unless you are typing N123456 directly into the formula, Excel will not see it as a cell reference. If that text is in say cell A1 and your VLOOKUP formula looks like:
=VLOOKUP(A1,....)
the formula is looking for N123456 and not the contents of the cell N123456.

 

[AliGW]

Can you explain a bit more? What exactly is the formula you are using when Excel sees it as a cell reference? I can't make it happen here.

 

[Aladin Akyurek]

What is the formula that treats N123456 as a cell address?

 

[DoubleBitAxe]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. That's how I expected it to work as well, but it was behaving unexpectedly.

It appears to be a bug resulting from running Oracle Crystal Ball, once I closed it the lookup worked as expected.

 

[AliGW]

Thanks for letting us know.