It sounds like you've got the cell formatted as text. Format the cell as
General or Number. You may need to go back to the formula and perhaps
delete the = sign and re-enter.
The other thing is to look at Tools/ Options/ View, and make sure that the
"formulas" box is not checked.
--
David Biddulph

"dig" wrote in message
...
Thank you very much,
i am having difficulty, the cell displays as =ABS(C3-D3) how do i get it
to
display as a number?
Thanks again

"Barb Reinhardt" wrote:

The difference would be calculated as

=C3-D3

The absolute value of this is

=ABS(C3-D3)

--
HTH,
Barb Reinhardt



"dig" wrote:

Hello,
I am having difficulty in finding the difference between two numbers,
i have two cloumns which have for example the numbers C3=2 and D3=10,
where
the difference would be E3=8 and numbers C4=12 and D4=7 where the
difference
would be E4=5, how do i do this in excel without getting negative
numbers
such as C3-D3=-8?
thank you for your help,
Dougie