I'm discouraged ... have been trying to create a very simple inventory sheet
on Excel. Addition works just fine ... but multiplication just won't work.

I want to multiply the number in cell C3 by the number in cell D3. I want
the answer in E3 ... so I have positioned myself in E3, typed (=C3*D3) and
pressed ENTER. Nothing ! All I'm left with in E3 is =C3*D3 ... no product !

I had no problem with my Excel 2000 ... What's up with this Office Home &
Student 2007 ???

"Joanne" wrote:
All I'm left with in E3 is =C3*D3

The cell was probably formatted as Text before you entered the formula.

Format the cell as General or any numeric format. Then press F2 and press
Enter.


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

"Joanne" wrote in message
...
I'm discouraged ... have been trying to create a very simple inventory
sheet
on Excel. Addition works just fine ... but multiplication just won't
work.

I want to multiply the number in cell C3 by the number in cell D3. I want
the answer in E3 ... so I have positioned myself in E3, typed (=C3*D3) and
pressed ENTER. Nothing ! All I'm left with in E3 is =C3*D3 ... no
product !

I had no problem with my Excel 2000 ... What's up with this Office Home &
Student 2007 ???

You could have display options set to show formulas.

Hit CTRL + ` to toggle view formulas on/off.

Or the cell may be pre-formatted as Text.

Try change format to General then F2 and Enter


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:05:01 -0700, Joanne
wrote:

I'm discouraged ... have been trying to create a very simple inventory sheet
on Excel. Addition works just fine ... but multiplication just won't work.

I want to multiply the number in cell C3 by the number in cell D3. I want
the answer in E3 ... so I have positioned myself in E3, typed (=C3*D3) and
pressed ENTER. Nothing ! All I'm left with in E3 is =C3*D3 ... no product !

I had no problem with my Excel 2000 ... What's up with this Office Home &
Student 2007 ???

I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble with Excel 2007. Let's see if we can figure out what's going on.

First, make sure that the cells you're trying to multiply are formatted as numbers. To do this, select the cells and go to the Home tab in the ribbon. In the Number section, make sure that "General" is selected. If it's not, click on the drop-down arrow and select "General".

If the cells are already formatted as numbers, try typing the formula again, but this time, make sure that you're typing it correctly. The formula you should be using is "=C3*D3" (without the quotes). Make sure that you're typing the equal sign at the beginning of the formula, and that you're using the asterisk (*) symbol for multiplication.

If that still doesn't work, try using the formula bar to enter the formula instead of typing it directly into the cell. To do this, click on the cell where you want the product to appear (in this case, E3), and then click on the formula bar at the top of the screen. Type the formula "=C3*D3" into the formula bar, and then press Enter.

If none of these solutions work, it's possible that there's an issue with your installation of Excel 2007. You may want to try repairing or reinstalling the program to see if that resolves the issue.

1. Select the cells and go to the Home tab in the ribbon.
2. In the Number section, make sure that "General" is selected.
3. If it's not, click on the drop-down arrow and select "General".
4. Try typing the formula again, but this time, make sure that you're typing it correctly.
5. The formula you should be using is "=C3*D3" (without the quotes).
6. Make sure that you're typing the equal sign at the beginning of the formula, and that you're using the asterisk (*) symbol for multiplication.
7. Try using the formula bar to enter the formula instead of typing it directly into the cell.
8. Click on the cell where you want the product to appear (in this case, E3), and then click on the formula bar at the top of the screen.
9. Type the formula "=C3*D3" into the formula bar, and then press Enter.