Formulas that don't return an answer

imported_unknown

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Jan 13, 2002
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I input a formula such as, =a2, hit return and the cell reflects "=a2". It does not caluclate and give the value in cell a2. I have tried formatting the field, but to no avail. What I end up having to do is insert a column or go to a blank column not begin used and input the formula there, it will work and then copy past it over to the place I want it. This generally happens with worksheets I receive from others - so it must be some sort of formatting feature I'm not aware of how to undo. Any ideas on what could cause this? Thank you. Marie
 

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On 2002-10-04 07:54, Amileaux wrote:
I input a formula such as, =a2, hit return and the cell reflects "=a2". It does not caluclate and give the value in cell a2. I have tried formatting the field, but to no avail. What I end up having to do is insert a column or go to a blank column not begin used and input the formula there, it will work and then copy past it over to the place I want it. This generally happens with worksheets I receive from others - so it must be some sort of formatting feature I'm not aware of how to undo. Any ideas on what could cause this? Thank you. Marie

Replace "=" with "=" via Find (without quotes).
 
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I misspoke - I input the formula without quotes - what I meant to convey is that I hit enter and the formula stays in the cell as =a2 (or whatever the formula is that I input) and does not return a value.
 
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Are running the formula within returned data - i.e. if you could run a report from another program and save it as xls, when you try to add formulas within the report range it won't work.
 
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On 2002-10-04 08:40, Amileaux wrote:
I misspoke - I input the formula without quotes - what I meant to convey is that I hit enter and the formula stays in the cell as =a2 (or whatever the formula is that I input) and does not return a value.

You have a formula in some cell. The formula is just:

=A2

but what all you get to see in the formula cell is the formula itself, not the value of A2. Assuming that "Formulas" is NOT checked on the View tab (under Tools|Options), you can do the following:

Activate Edit|Find.
Type = in the box for Find what.
Activate the Replace button.
Type = in the Replace with box.
 
Upvote 0
It's because the cells are formatted as Text. Format the cells as General (or some other format) before you enter your formula.
 
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