SOLVED: Excel Formulas Displaying As Text

If you enter a forumula / function in Excel but only see the text of that forumla and not the result of that formula, there is likely one of two things happening:

1. You have FORMULAS tab > SHOW FORUMLAS button turned on
2. You have the cell(s) formated as TEXT

The first issue is easy to deal with, just click the SHOW FORUMULAS button and see if the issue goes away.

The second is only slightly more tricky.  If you have this issue and you click FORMULAS tab > EVALUATE FORMULA you may see the following notice:

The cell currently being evaluated contains a constant

If so, you need to:

1. Right click on the cells (or entire columns) exhibiting this issue
2. Select FORMAT CELLS
3. Change the CATEGORY to GENERAL
4. Delete and re-enter any formulas in those cells (no, they will not magically work after you make the change… you have to retype them)

Enjoy!