After the number turns positive, what do you see in the formula bar for that
cell?

If it still shows negative there, then maybe it's just a formatting problem.

Format|cells|number tab|make it general.

If it really shows positive, then it sounds like you may have a macro that's
helping out.

Can you reopen your workbook with macros disabled and see what happens?

Jerri wrote:

When I try to enter a negative number into excel, the number turns positive
as soon as I enter it. I have tried deleting book1.xlt to remove any bogus
formatting but this problem appears to be some sort of default setting that I
do not know about.

--

Dave Peterson