"Amy" wrote:
On several occasions lately I've had the misfortune of my spreadsheet
Instead it shows me the formula. i.e. "=A2+A4" instead of "16". What
causes this??? How do I avoid it?

If this happens in all cells with formulas, click Tools Options View and
be sure that Formulas is unchecked.

More likely, the individual cells that show the formula were explicitly
formatted as Text when you entered the formula. Select those cells, click
Format Cells Number and select General or any other format that you
want. Then press F2 and Enter (or ctrl-shift-Enter for array formulas).


I'm having an issue when I drag the formula to other cells that it doesn't
process unless I manually go into that cell and hit enter.

Click Tools Options Calculation and click Automatic. You probably have
Manual set.

Caveat emptor: Manual calculation might be set for good reason, notably to
avoid recalculation of cells with random expression (RAND or RANDBETWEEN).
If that's the case, you might want to retain Manual calculation mode and
simply press F9 every time you want to cause recalculation (sigh).


----- original message -----

"Amy" wrote in message
...
On several occasions lately I've had the misfortune of my spreadsheet
refusing to treat a formula as a formula. Instead it shows me the formula.
i.e. "=A2+A4" instead of "16". What causes this??? How do I avoid it?

Also, when the formula does work, I'm having an issue when I drag the
formula to other cells that it doesn't process unless I manually go into
that
cell and hit enter. The formula reads correctly, but the result is the
same
that was in the first cell until I click in the cell and hit enter. (This
is
not a relative/absolute reference issue)

If these ring a bell to anyone...please help!!