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I am trying to put formulas into excel (2010 & not a new concept for me), however when i go to edit the formula the cell changes and only shows me the formula (not as a formula but as text in the cell) instead of the result I want. the cell format is set to general so there shouldnt be a problem with the cell running the formula. i think i may have quick keyed something the otherday changing my settings and dont know how to fix this problem.

Im not new to excel and know how to click the "show formula" button to see all my formulas. this is not the problem and does not correct the issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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    Isn't this the default behavior of Excel? Show the calculated value, unless the cell is switched to edit mode, at which point the formula is shown?
    – ernie
    Aug 8, 2013 at 22:38
  • when i edit the formula, all i am doing is adding the "$" to prevent the formula from looking somewhere else. i should still get the same result. unfortunately, once i click on the formula, the cell now only shows my formula and not the result it should. For example, I am using cell B1 to reflect the exact data in cell A1. lets say A1 says "hi." when i first to the formula in cell B1 as "=A1" cell B1 then says hi. when i change the formula to say "=$A$1" the cell should still say "hi" but now the the cell is only text and say =$A$1" i cannot get it to run the formula.
    – jarret
    Aug 8, 2013 at 23:19
  • just to add. I opened a brand new excel sheet and the funtion works right. the problem is i have already dedicated DAYS to creating the product with over 50 conditional formats, references to different sheets, etc. I cannot move the data and rebuild the links. i need to fix the issue with this book. I am sure I changed something. Even my cell comment are funky...they dont auto format size to show all text and appear 5-10 celss off the origional cell, even after i edit them to be in the right place & size..very frustrating.
    – jarret
    Aug 8, 2013 at 23:31
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    The only way I could get the same type of behavior - cell shows a number, click on it and the number turns to the formula and won't go back to display of value - was by setting the number format of cells to Text, which I'm assuming is not what is going on with your sheets. Weird.
    – chuff
    Aug 9, 2013 at 3:48

2 Answers 2

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I had this same problem, and my cell was set on Text.

Once I put the formatting back to General it worked fine...

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From my understanding, the issue is that you have a cell with a formula, you edit the formula, and then when you click off the cell/finish the edit, it's still displaying the formula instead of the calculated value.

The example you mention was to a cell that says "hi". If this is only happening when you have formulas that are referencing cells that are text format, that sounds like it might be a a known issue:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/213970

Not sure if this applies to 2010?

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  • was really hoping for that to work...but it didnt. Any other suggestions? I noticed my cell comments i added as well changes formats. the Block should auto fit to show the text, but goes small, when i click "edit comments" the comments block opens up 5-12 cells to the right...i have to drag it back and then edit, real pain.
    – jarret
    Aug 9, 2013 at 16:13

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