It is most likely that the cell with the formula in it is formatted as text.
If so, you should format the cell with something like 'Number' or 'General'
format and then re-edit the formula, (make sure it does not begin with quotes
as was the case in your post), and then the formula should work.

Otherwise, it is possible you have Excel in the 'Display Formulas' mode
which can be toggled on/off with the Ctrl^` key combination. (The ` key is
usually just beneath the Esc key, not to be confused with the single quote '
character)

HTH,

TK

"ctc" wrote:

How do i configure excel to display the results of the sum of a set of
numbers instead of displaying the formula?

Ex. I want to add the numbers of several different cells so I compose the
equation "=R22+R34+R35+R37" in a results cell. However the results cell
doesn't display the sum of these fields. instead it displays
"=R22+R34+R35+R37".