A family of Microsoft spreadsheet software with tools for analyzing, charting, and communicating data.
The cells are showing formulas as text instead of calculating them. In the screenshot, entries like =12600*10%+12600 appear directly in the cell, which usually means Excel is treating them as text or showing formulas instead of results.
Try these checks in order:
- Turn off Show Formulas
- In Excel, go to Formulas > Show Formulas.
- If it is enabled, Excel shows the formula instead of the calculated value.
- Check the cell format
- Select the cells with the problem.
- Change the format to General or Number.
- Then edit each formula and press Enter again so Excel recalculates it.
- Make sure the formula starts correctly
- Every formula must start with
=. - There must not be a leading apostrophe or space before the
=.
- Every formula must start with
- Use the correct multiplication symbol
- Excel uses
*for multiplication, notx. - Example:
=A1*A8
- Excel uses
- Check list separators if a formula gives an error
- On Mac, some formulas require
,and others require;depending on regional settings. - If a formula with multiple arguments does not work, verify the separator used in that Mac setup.
- On Mac, some formulas require
- If the issue is only with one area, compare nearby formulas
- Go to Formulas > Show Formulas.
- Compare the problem cell with nearby working cells.
- Use Formulas > Trace Precedents to see whether the references are correct.
- For formulas that reference other sheets
- Use the sheet name followed by
! - If the sheet name contains spaces, wrap it in single quotation marks.
- Example:
=SUM('Sales Report'!A1:A8)
- Use the sheet name followed by
If the cells were previously formatted as Text, changing the format alone is not enough. The formula must be re-entered after changing the format.
References: