You could use a formula like:

=if(a1="","",a1)
or
=if(sheet1!a1="","",sheet1!a1)

And not have to worry about formatting.

Mr. Snrub wrote:

OK I now understand that this problem has nothing to do with different
worksheets at all. I have now gotten the two different values in the same
worksheet. It appears to me to be a formatting error.

--

Dave Peterson