Formulas displayed as text No Matter What I Try

[Turk182]

Hey, does anyone know how to stop excel from displaying formulas as text strings?
The format is already "general".
Calculation preferences are set to "automatic".
There are no spaces.
Even though it's redundant, I've reformatted the cells to "General" again....
I have also removed, and then re-typed the =.

The formulas are still displaying as text strings

 

[Fluff]

Is this all formulae in the sheet or just some?

 

[KenU]

You may have activated the Show Formulas option inadvertently.

Check the Formulas tab on the ribbon. Within the Formula Auditing group is a selection for Show Formulas. The keyboard shortcut to toggle this is CTRL + ` (the tilde key).

Hope that helps.

Regards,
Ken

 

[Turk182]

Thanks everyone.

@Fluff it's just some formulas.
@KenU unfortunately, the "show formulas" toggle had no effect.

 

[Fluff]

If it's only some, that does suggest that those cells are text. Change the format to General, then hit F2 then Enter.

 

[Joe4]

If it's only some, that does suggest that those cells are text. Change the format to General, then hit F2 then Enter.

If you have a whole bunch like that, you can fix whole columns at once by:
1. Selecting the column
2. Changing the Cell Format to General
3. Select "Text to Columns" from the "Data" menu
4. Click the "Finish" button

That will save you on having to re-enter each one individually.
Just note that you can only do one column at a time, though.

 

[Turk182]

Thanks everyone.
@Fluff Unfortunately "… F2/enter…" had no effect (formula still showing as text). I've tried that one a few times. . . .
@Joe4 unfortunately, the "General/text to columns/finish fix did not fix it either.
One strange thing I noticed (that may mean something to someone) is that simply selecting the cell (single click) highlights the other cells to which the formula refers--even though the formula itself is steel steel steel STILL displaying as text instead of displaying the result.

 

[Fluff]

simply selecting the cell (single click) highlights the other cells to which the formula refers

That suggests that you do have it set to show formulas, it is the only way I can get that effect.

 

[Joe4]

Here is a link with the top 3 causes of this: Excel Showing Formula Instead of Result (How to FIX!) - Spreadsheet Planet (some which have already been discussed).

If none of them fix it, then I don't see how we are going to be able to tell without actually seeing the file for ourselves.

 

[Turk182]

That suggests that you do have it set to show formulas, it is the only way I can get that effect.

My apologies. Although I did not realize it, I was toggling the "show formulas" button on an adjacent sheet.
Thank you very much!