Cell in excel will not calculate

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Excel Formulas Not Calculating? How to Fix it Fast

Categories: Basic Excel

You’ve created the reports for your management meeting, and, just before you print copies for the executives, you discover that the totals are all showing last month’s values. How do you fix it—fast?

1. Check for Automatic Recalculation

On the Formulas ribbon, look to the far right and click Calculation Options. On the dropdown list, verify that Automatic is selected.

When this option is set to automatic, Excel recalculates the spreadsheet’s formulas whenever you change a cell value. This means that, if you have a formula that totals up your sales and you change one of the sales, Excel updates the total to show the correct sum.

When this option is set to manual, Excel recalculates only when you click the Calculate Now or Calculate Sheet button. If you prefer keyboard shortcuts, you can recalculate by pressing the F9 key. Manual recalculation is useful when you have a large spreadsheet that takes several minutes to recalculate. Instead of waiting impatiently while it recalculates after every change you make, you can set the recalculation to manual, make all of your changes, and then recalculate at once.

Unfortunately, if you set it to manual and forget about it, your formulas will not recalculate.

2. Check the Cell Format for Text

Select the cell that is not recalculating and, on the Home ribbon, check the number format. If the format shows Text, change it to Number. When a cell is formatted as Text, Excel makes no attempt to interpret the contents as a formula.

After you change the format, you’ll need to reconfirm the formula by clicking in the Formula Bar and then pressing the Enter key.

Note: If you format a cell as General and you discover that Excel is changing it automatically to text, try setting it to Number. When a cell formatted as General and the cell contains a reference to another cell, Excel copies the format of the referenced cell. Choosing any format other than General will prevent Excel from changing the format.

3. Check for Circular References

Look at the bottom of the Excel window for the words CIRCULAR REFERENCES.

Like circular logic, a circular reference is a formula that either includes itself in its calculation or refers to another cell which depends on itself. Be aware that a circular reference can, in some instances, prevent Excel from calculating a formula. Correct the circular reference and recalculate your spreadsheet.

Next Steps

You can fix most recalculation problems with one of these three solutions. Now, fix that report, and get ready for your meeting.

Or continue your Excel education here.

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Bottom Line: Learn about the different calculation modes in Excel and what to do if your formulas are not calculating when you edit dependent cells.

Skill Level: Beginner

Watch the Tutorial

Download the Excel File

You can follow along using the same workbook I use in the video. I’ve attached it below:

Why Aren’t My Formulas Calculating?

If you’ve ever been in a situation where the formulas in your spreadsheet are not automatically calculating as they should, you know how frustrating it can be.

This was happening to my friend Brett. He was telling me that he was working with a file and it wasn’t recalculating the formulas as he was entering data. He found that he had to edit each cell and hit Enter for the formula in the cell to update.

And it was only happening on his computer at home. His work computer was working just fine. This was driving him crazy and wasting a lot of time.

The most likely cause of this issue is the Calculation Option mode, and it’s a critical setting that every Excel user should know about.

To check what calculation mode Excel is in, go to the Formulas tab, and click on Calculation Options. This will bring up a menu with three choices. The current mode will have a checkmark next to it. In the image below, you can see that Excel is in Manual Calculation Mode.

When Excel is in Manual Calculation mode, the formulas in your worksheet will not calculate automatically. You can quickly and easily fix your problem by changing the mode to Automatic. There are cases when you might want to use Manual Calc mode, and I explain more about that below.

Calculation Settings are Confusing!

It’s really important to know how the calculation mode can change. Technically, it’s is an application-level setting. That means that the setting will apply to all workbooks you have open on your computer.

As I mention in the video above, this was the issue with my friend Brett. Excel was in Manual calculation mode on his home computer and his files weren’t calculating. When he opened the same files on his work computer, they were calculating just fine because Excel was in Automatic calculation mode on that computer.

However, there is one major nuance here. The workbook (Excel file) also stores the last saved calculation setting and can change/override the application-level setting.

This should only happen for the first file you open during an Excel session.

For example, if you change Excel to manual calc mode before you save & close the file, then that setting is stored with the workbook. If you then open that workbook as the first workbook in your Excel session, the calculation mode will be changed to manual.

All subsequent workbooks that you open during that session will also be in manual calculation mode. If you save and close those files, the manual calc mode will be stored with the files as well.

The confusing part about this behavior is that it only happens for the first file you open in a session. Once you close the Excel application completely and then re-open it, Excel will return to automatic calculation mode if you start by opening a new blank file or any file that is in automatic calculation mode.

Therefore, the calculation mode of the first file you open in an Excel session dictates the calculation mode for all files opened in that session. If you change the calculation mode in one file, it will be changed for all open files.

Note: I misspoke about this in the video when I said that the calculation setting doesn’t travel with the workbook, and I will update the video.

The 3 Calculation Options

There are three calculation options in Excel.

Automatic Calculation means that Excel will recalculate all dependent formulas when a cell value or formula is changed.

Manual Calculation means that Excel will only recalculate when you force it to. This can be with a button press or keyboard shortcut. You can also recalculate a single cell by editing the cell and pressing Enter.

Automatic Except for Data Tables means that Excel will recalculate automatically for all cells except those that are used in Data Tables. This is not referring to normal Excel Tables that you might work with frequently. This refers to a scenario-analysis tool that not many people use. You find it on the Data tab, under the What-If Scenarios button. So unless you’re working with those Data Tables, it’s unlikely you will ever purposely change the setting to that option.

In addition to finding the Calculation setting on the Data tab, you can also find it on the Excel Options menu. Go to File, then Options, then Formulas to see the same setting options in the Excel Options window.

Under the Manual Option, you’ll see a checkbox for recalculating the workbook before saving, which is the default setting. That’s a good thing because you want your data to calculate correctly before you save the file and share it with your co-workers.

Why Would I Use Manual Calculation Mode?

If you are wondering why anyone would ever want to change the calculation from Automatic to Manual, there’s one major reason. When working with large files that are slow to calculate, the constant recalculation whenever changes are made can sometimes slow your system. Therefore people will sometimes switch to Manual mode while working through changes on worksheets that have a lot of data, and then will switch back.

When you are in Manual Calculation mode, you can force a calculation at any time using the Calculate Now button on the Formulas tab.

The keyboard shortcut for Calculate Now is F9, and it will calculate the entire workbook. If you want to calculate just the current worksheet, you can choose the button below it: Calculate Sheet. The keyboard shortcut for that choice is Shift + F9.

Here is a list of all Recalculate keyboard shortcuts:

Shortcut	Description
F9	Recalculate formulas that have changed since the last calculation, and formulas dependent on them, in all open workbooks. If a workbook is set for automatic recalculation, you do not need to press F9 for recalculation.
Shift+F9	Recalculate formulas that have changed since the last calculation, and formulas dependent on them, in the active worksheet.
Ctrl+Alt+F9	Recalculate all formulas in all open workbooks, regardless of whether they have changed since the last recalculation.
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+F9	Check dependent formulas, and then recalculate all formulas in all open workbooks, regardless of whether they have changed since the last recalculation.

Macro Changing to Manual Calculation Mode

If you find that your workbook is not automatically calculating, but you didn’t purposely change the mode, another reason that it may have changed is because of a macro.

Now I want to preface this by saying that the issue is NOT caused by all macros. It’s a specific line of code that a developer might use to help the macro run faster.

The following line of VBA code tells Excel to change to Manual Calculation mode.

Application.Calculation = xlCalculationManual

Sometimes the author of the macro will add that line at the beginning so that Excel does not attempt to calculate while the macro runs. The setting should then changed be changed back at the end of the macro with the following line.

Application.Calculation = xlCalculationAutomatic

This technique can work well for large workbooks that are slow to calculate.

However, the problem arises when the macro doesn’t get to finish—perhaps due to an error, program crash, or unexpected system issue. The macro changes the setting to Manual and it doesn’t get changed back.

As I mention in the video, this was exactly what happened to my friend Brett, and he was NOT aware of it. He was left in manual calc mode and didn’t know why, or how to get Excel calculating again.

Therefore, if you are using this technique with your macros, I encourage you to think about ways to mitigate this issue. And also warn your users of the potential of Excel being left in manual calc mode.

I also recommend NOT changing the Calculation property with code unless you absolutely need to. This will help prevent frustration and errors for the users of your macros.

Conclusion

I hope this information is helpful for you, especially if you are currently dealing with this particular issue. If you have any questions or comments about calculation modes, please share them in the comments.

Your Excel results are obviously wrong? Maybe you’ve just changed something but the results are still the same, Excel is not updating the results? Here are four potential reasons and fixes if your Excel file is not calculating any longer.

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This article is part of our big Excel FAQ.

Learn about all the most frequently asked questions. Or ask a questions yourself!

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Reason 1: Manual calculation mode

The first and frequent reason is that your workbook is set to manual calculation. That way, Excel recalculates your workbook only when you ask it to do. The solution is very easy:

Press F9 on the keyboard. That way, all changed formulas and their depending cells will be recalculated.

If you want to switch back the calculation mode to “Automatic”, go to the Formulas ribbon, click on Calculation Options on the right and then on “Automatic“.

For more information about the calculation modes in Excel, please refer to our detailed article.

Reason 2: Broken calculation chain so that some cells are not calculating

In some rare cases, pressing F9 doesn’t solve the problem. Try to press Ctrl + Alt + F9 on the keyboard. That way, all formulas – no matter if they changed or not – will be recalculated. Also, calculation chains in the background will be refreshed.

Please note: Pressing Ctrl + Alt + F9 usually solves the problem for very large workbooks, also in combination with the manual calculation mode. For small, simple Excel files typically this is not the solution.

Reason 3: Circular references might prevent calculating

Have you heard of circular references in Excel? Just a very simple example: Cell B2 refers to C2 and C2 to B2. Usually, Excel would provide a warning message and show it in the Status bar below the worksheet.

If your Excel file (or any other file open in the background) contains Circular References, your file might not calculate as usual.

The solution is to solve the Circular References. Here is everything you should know about circular references and how to remove them.

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Reason 4: Result is correct but not as expected

The methods above have not solved the problem? I hate to say it – but often Excel is working correctly. Usually there is a problem with your formulas and functions. So, are you really sure that the result has some Excel calculation errors…?

Reason 5: Results with very strange digits

If you experience basically correct results but with very long and strange looking digits (for example something like “-2,77556E-17”)

Please refer to this article, it explains the problem and solution in detail!

Image by Wolfgang Eckert from Pixabay

Henrik Schiffner is a freelance business consultant and software developer. He lives and works in Hamburg, Germany. Besides being an Excel enthusiast he loves photography and sports.

How to fix Excel formulas not calculating (Refresh Formulas)

How to fix Excel formulas not calculating (Refresh Formulas)

Formulas are the life and blood of Microsoft Excel.

We use them to add numbers, subtract dates, and even extract texts.

When entering a formula, the result comes almost immediately!

But what happens when it doesn’t?

Obviously, 2+2 = 4! Not 5!

Could we actually be better at basic math than Excel? Probably not 🤣

So, how do you fix a formula that won’t calculate automatically?

In this tutorial, you learn about why your formulas are not updating and how to fix them!

If you want to tag along, download the sample Excel file here.

Let’s dive right into the most common cause of formulas not updating:

Calculation options set to ‘Manual calculation’ mode

What? 😲

Could it really be that simple?

In Excel, it is actually possible to change the calculation setting.

You can check and set the current calculation mode like this:

1. Click the Formulas tab.

2. Click on Calculation Options.

3. Verify that the calculation setting is Automatic.

4. Formulas will not recalculate automatically if Excel is set to Manual calculation mode.

In the practice Excel workbook, the formula in cell C2 is a simple addition formula:

=A2 + B2

You can change the values of A2 & B2 as you wish…

…but the formula result will not change while the setting is still in Manual calc mode.

5. To get the correct result, set the Calculation Options to Automatic calculation mode.

Voila!

Now you can go back to working with Excel as usual!

Alternatively…

You can also change the calculation mode by going into File > More… > Options > Formulas tab.

There are four calculation modes to choose from:

• Automatic – All dependent formulas in the entire workbook are recalculated as cell values change.
• Automatic Except for Data Tables – Same as Automatic. But Data Tables are only recalculated if a cell inside the table has changed
• Manual – The entire workbook is only recalculated if you press F9. Or if you click Calculate Now or Calculate Sheet in the Formulas ribbon
• Manual / Recalculate before saving – Same as Manual calc mode. But formulas are also recalculated every time you save the file.

But why did my Calculation Mode change? 🤔

Bear in mind that the calculation setting is an application-level setting.

If you change the Calculation Mode, this applies to the entire workbook and all other open workbooks.

Also, Excel uses the last saved calculation mode of the first workbook opened. All workbooks opened in the same session will use the same mode.

Try to open the practice Excel file without any other open workbooks.
You will notice that it opens in Manual calculation mode. This was the setting it was last saved with.

You can learn more about Calculation Mode behavior from the official Microsoft website.

Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office Specialist

Running a macro can also change the calculation mode

This is especially true if the macro or VBA developer used any of the lines below:

• Application.Calculation = xlCalculationAutomatic
• Application.Calculation = xlCalculationManual

If you are not working with a macro-enabled workbook, then you can definitely rule this out!

Why use ‘Manual calculation’ mode?

Well, if you are working with a large amount of data, you may notice a slight lag or delay in Excel. 🐌

This is usually caused by Excel automatically recalculating formulas with every change.

This can slow your work down quite a lot.

💡 So, you can change to Manual calculation mode as you enter or change data and switch back to Automatic later on.

Manual calculation shortcuts

In Manual mode, you can refresh formulas by pressing F9.

You can also click the Calculate Now or Calculate Sheet buttons in the Formulas ribbon.

This can help you save time and avoid the stress of waiting for Excel to finish updating formulas!

Cell is formatted as text

Wrong cell format could also prevent the automatic calculation of a formula.

Take a look at the worksheet “Example-Text Format” of the practice Excel file.

The Excel formula in cell C2 is exactly the same as the formula in cell C2 of the worksheet “Example-Calc Mode”.

But in the worksheet “Example-Text Format”, it only shows the formula and not the value.

Even if the Excel workbook is not set to Manual calc mode, the cell value will not update.

To fix this, you can change the cell format:

1. In the Home ribbon, click on the Number Format drop-down.

2. Select your desired number format.

The General and Number formats are usually used for calculations.

3. Double-click on the cell or click the formula bar.

The cell references should are now highlighted as they normally are in an Excel formula.

4. Hit Enter to get the result!

Excel set to show formulas instead of results

Another thing to consider is the Show Formulas feature.

If this is ON, cells will show the formulas instead of the values.

You can toggle it ON and OFF by clicking the Show Formulas button in the Formulas ribbon.

You can also use these shortcuts to toggle display between formulas and values:

• On Windows: Use Ctrl + ‘
• On Mac: Use ^ + `

The Show Formulas feature changes the display between formula and cell value.

This is so you can check for errors and inconsistencies in the entire workbook.

Try it out for yourself!

There’s a circular reference somewhere in your workbook

Are you still having issues even after the above fixes?
If so, you might have a circular reference in your workbook.

This is when a formula refers to its own cell either directly or indirectly.

In the worksheet “Example-Circ Ref 1” of the practice workbook, we have a simple SUM formula at cell B6.

The formula includes itself in the calculation “=SUM(B2:B6)”.

Thus, the formula will not calculate correctly.

You can identify and fix formulas with circular references like this:

1. In the Formulas ribbon, click on Error Checking.

2. This opens a drop-down. Select Circular References.

It will then show you a list of cells with circular references that need fixing.

Alternative method to check for circular references

You can check the bottom left corner of the Excel window.

It will display a message like the one below if there are circular references.

You may also see blue lines that show formulas dependent on one another.
Open the worksheet “Example-Circ Ref 2” for this next example.

Here you have slightly more complex formulas involving a budget spreadsheet.

The example above shows two ways to calculate the Contingency and Total Project Cost.

• In Calculation A: The formula for the Total Project Cost at cell B9 is “=SUM(B4:B8)” while the formula for the 5% Contingency at cell B7 is “=B9*0.05”.
  Thus, cells B7 and B9 have formulas dependent on one another. This is a circular reference and the Excel formulas default to zero.
• In Calculation B: This circular reference is fixed by having a Sub-total at cell F7.
  This way, the Contingency can be computed at cell F8 and the Total Project Cost is now just “=F7+F8”.
  There are no circular references here so the values are computed correctly!

You can learn more about this and other examples in our tutorial about circular references here.

That’s it – Now what?

You are now familiar with the four most common reasons why your Excel formulas won’t automatically calculate.

Reason number 1, the Calculation Mode setting, is almost always the culprit ⚙️

This is especially true when you open workbooks downloaded from the Internet. Or if you open workbooks from a different computer.

You will encounter wrong cell Text formatting, Show Formulas toggle, and Circular References less often.

But all this doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to actually build formulas and functions that make your work easier.

Functions like IF, SUMIF, and VLOOKUP.

You learn all these (and more!) in my free 30-minute training. Click here to enroll.

Other relevant resources

You just read what to do when the formulas don’t update. But what if you get different error messages like #VALUE, #REF, and #NAME?

That’s an entirely different part of Excel and you can read all about that here.

Or you can read here how to use IFERROR or ISERROR to work with errors and have formulas work all the time!

Kasper Langmann2022-09-26T18:10:39+00:00

We have all experienced it, and often at the worst possible moment. For whatever reason, Excel’s formulas aren’t calculating correctly. The good news is that it is usually something simple. Once we know the most likely causes, it is easier to troubleshoot the problem. So, in this post, we look at the most likely reasons for Excel formulas not calculating.

The 14 reasons and fixes in this post, should give you what you need to know. So, if you’re concerned that Excel has stopped calculating or that numbers aren’t updating, we have the answer for you.

Watch the video

Watch the video on YouTube

Calculation option – automatic or manual (#1)

Excel has two calculation options, Automatic and Manual. Most users don’t even know these two modes exist. Yet, frustratingly, in some circumstances, they can change without us knowing it.

Automatic calculation is the default mode. This is where formulas recalculate after any change affecting the result of a calculation.

Excel formulas are efficient at handling calculations. In the background, Excel knows which cells impact which formulas. Therefore, the Automatic calculation mode recalculates the minimum number of cells. This ensures Excel is fast while keeping all the values up-to-date. This is the behavior that we understand and expect.

However, due to the size and complexity of some spreadsheets or due to 3rd party add-ins, calculation speed can become very slow. This leads some users to change Excel’s option to Manual calculation mode. Consequently, Excel doesn’t recalculate anything. In Manual calculation mode, we can change cell values, but nothing happens. Therefore, we must explicitly tell Excel when to recalculate.

Therefore, if Excel is in manual calculation mode, it would appear there is an issue because we see Excel formulas not calculating.

NOTE: Unfortunately, Excel can change between Manual and Automatic calculation modes without us knowing it. So check out this post: Why does Excel’s calculation mode keep changing?

To determine which calculation mode is enabled, click Formulas > Calculation Options (drop-down). The tick inside the drop-down identifies which calculation option is applied.

Click Automatic to ensure the calculation happens automatically.

Calculation mode is an application-level setting; therefore, it applies to all open workbooks.

If you want to remain in Manual calculation mode, here are some useful shortcuts.

• F9: Calculates formulas that have changed since the last calculation, and formulas dependent on them, in all open workbooks.
• Shift + F9: Calculates formulas that have changed since the last calculation, and formulas dependent on them, in the active worksheet.
• Ctrl + Alt + F9: Calculates all formulas in all open workbooks, regardless of whether they have changed since the last time or not.
• Ctrl + Shift + Alt + F9: Rechecks dependent formulas and then calculates all formulas in all open workbooks, regardless of whether they have changed since the last time or not.

This is probably the #1 reason why we see Excel formulas not calculating.

TOP TIP: Add the Automatic/Manual calculation options to your QAT. This is an easy way to switch between modes and identify which mode is active.

Wrong number format (#2)

When looking at cell values, we decide what kind of data it is. We know instinctively that numbers can be aggregated, but text cannot. Unfortunately, Excel isn’t so clever.

Within Home > Number, we can select the cell format.

If a cell is formatted as text instead of a number, Excel may not calculate and may not display the value we expect.

Look at the screenshot below.

In Cell B4, the SUM of B2:B3 equals 1; 1+1 = 1 is definitely wrong. This is because B3 is formatted as text, and the SUM function ignores text. So, while the calculation may look like 1+1 = 1 (which is wrong), it is actually 1+0 = 1 (which is correct).

To fix this, here are 3 options:

1. Manual change
   • Change the cell format from Text to another format (General is a good option to start with)
   • Double-click on the problem cell to go into edit mode
   • Press return to commit the formula
2. If the cell has a green triangle:
   • Click on the cell
   • Select Convert to number from the warning drop-down
     
3. Adding zero to the number
   • Select any blank cell.
   • Copy the cell
   • Select the cells to be converted to numbers
   • Click Home > Paste > Paste Special…
   • In the Paste Special window, select Add, then click OK

#1 specifically relates to numbers formatted as text, but #2 and #3 can be used in many scenarios where numbers are stored as text.

Leading apostrophe (#3)

The apostrophe ( ‘ ) is a special character in Excel. Whenever an apostrophe is entered at the start of a value or formula, this tells Excel that everything that follows is text.

This special character ensures we can store numbers as text. For example, if we wanted to hold an employee number containing leading zeros, Excel might remove the zeros on data entry.

Therefore, we insert the apostrophe to ensure Excel understands this as text.

However, sometimes an apostrophe can appear when we don’t want it. This often happens when the data is imported from an external system.

The screenshot below shows a calculation that doesn’t work as expected. The formula in Cell B4 is SUM(B2:B3), therefore 1 + 1 = 2, yet the value in B4 equals 1. This is because cell B3 contains a value with an apostrophe preceding it.

Either remove the apostrophe manually or use techniques #2 and #3 listed in the section above to fix the issue.

There is a similar impact on formulas. For example, in the screenshot below, the SUM function has a leading apostrophe; therefore, it is treated as text.

As it’s a formula, you will need to remove the apostrophe manually. Then you’re good to go.

Leading and trailing spaces (#4)

Leading and trailing spaces are a big problem, they often occur in imported text, but we cannot see them with our eyes.

Let’s look at an example.

In the screenshot above, the formula in Cell B13 is:

=SUMIFS($B$2:$B$9,$A$2:$A$9,A13)

We are performing a basic SUMIFS function to add the values for product Alpha. Based on the data, the value should be 50, but it calculates as zero.

The problem is that all the values in Cells A2:A9 have trailing spaces. Rather than “Alpha”, used in Cell A13 for the SUMIFS function, the value in the data is “Alpha   “ (with trailing spaces). Excel views these as different values. As a result, there is no match.

To fix this, there are lots of options. Some suggestions are:

• Manually removing the space from the data
• Adding the trailing space into our SUMIFS criteria
• Using the TRIM function to remove extra spaces from the start/end of the text
• If there are no spaces in the middle of the text, we can use Find and Replace to remove extra spaces.

Numbers contained in double quotes (#5)

Another text/number mix-up issue occurs when numbers are included in double-quotes.

Look at the screenshot below. There is a problem; 100+50+100 definitely does not equal 200.

In this scenario, there is a minimum sale volume of 50; therefore, using an IF function, the value in row 3 has increased correctly from 30 to 50. Consequently, the total should be 250. So, what’s happened?

The problem is due to the calculation in Cell C3.

The formula is:

=IF(B3<50,"50",B3)

In Cell B3, the value is less than 50; therefore, the text value of “50” is returned in Cell C3. The double quotes tell Excel that this is text and not a number.

To fix this, remove the double quotes around the number 50. Then the correct total will be calculated.

Incorrect formula arguments (#6)

Excel functions are a programming language for calculating a result. Each function has its own syntax (i.e., the arguments required to calculate an outcome). If we get this syntax wrong, it can lead to unexpected results.

VLOOKUP is a very error-prone function; it has caught out many unsuspecting users.

Let’s take a look at an example.

In the example above, the formula in Cell E3 is:

=VLOOKUP(D3,A2:B4,2)

It results 40 for Charlie, which is correct.

Now let’s change the value in D3 to Bravo:

It still returns 40!! Bravo should be 20. How is that possible?

In our formula, we excluded VLOOKUP’s 4th argument, which is the Range_Lookup argument.

• If we enter TRUE or exclude this argument, we are telling Excel that :
  • the first column in our data is in sorted ascending order
  • we want to return the value closest to, but not greater, than the lookup value (known as an approximate match).
• If we enter FALSE as the fourth argument, Excel only returns an exact match.

Our first column is not in ascending order, but by excluding the 4th argument, Excel believes it is sorted. Therefore, Excel calculated the wrong result.

If we go back and change our formula, so the 4th argument is FALSE, it works.

This demonstrates the importance of understanding what all function arguments do.

Non-printed characters (#7)

Non-printed characters are letters used within computer code that a person cannot view. As a simple example, the line break character we can enter into Excel using Alt + Enter is not printable.

In the screenshot above, the LEN function shows 6 characters in Cell C2. But the word “Hello” only has 5 characters.

There are no spaces in Cell C2, so what’s going on? It’s because there is a trailing line break character.

We can remove non-printed characters using the CLEAN function.

Look at the screenshot above. Once we’ve used the CLEAN function, the value is now correct again.

Circular references (#8)

Circular references are where a formula refers to a cell within its own calculation chain. Here is an example.

The formula in Cell B5 is:

=SUM(B2:B5)

If you notice, the cell reference of the formula (B5) is included within the range of cells (B2:B5). Consequently, Excel cannot calculate a result (unless iterative calculations have been enabled).

When we create or open a workbook with circular references, Excel will often display an error message:

“There are one or more circular references where a formula refers to its own cell either directly or indirectly. This might cause them to calculate incorrectly.

Try removing or changing these references, or moving the formulas to different cells.“

But, error messages don’t stop us from clicking OK and continuing as if nothing is wrong.

If there are circular references, they can be tough to find manually. Thankfully, Excel has given us a tool within the Formulas > Formula Auditing > Error Checking > Circular References which displays the circular references in any of our open workbooks.

As shown in the screenshot above, Cell B5 has a circular reference. Once we remove that, it will calculate correctly.

Show formulas (#9)

In Excel, we usually view the results of calculations. However, with one mouse click or one shortcut, we can quickly toggle to show formulas rather than results.

Turning on show formulas can easily be performed by accident or saved in this state by a previous user.

To display the formula results again, click Formulas > Formula Auditing> Show Formulas, or use the shortcut key Ctrl + ` (the key to the left of the 1 key on a standard windows keyboard).

Incorrect cell references (#10)

One thing we learn in Excel quite early on is the use of the dollar ($) symbol to lock cell references. For example:

• If we enter =A1 into a cell and copy it down, it will change to =A2.
• If we enter =A$1 and copy the cell down, it will remain as =A$1.

We get used to this referencing syntax quickly. However, this makes it easy to make mistakes when copying formulas to other cells.

Look at the screenshot above. There is definitely an issue with the calculation in Cell D6.

Double-click on the cell, and the problem will quickly reveal itself.

Yes… somebody forgot that $ symbols had been used in the formula in Cell C6, then they copied the formula into Cells D6 to F6.

Unfortunately, it’s easily done; I’ve done it myself many times.

How can we find these types of errors? The only way is to check our work as we go, and apply a healthy bit of skepticism to any calculation result. It’s better to self-review and find an error than to sit in a meeting with your manager, and them find it.

Automatic data entry conversion (#11)

To help reduce the number of errors we make, Excel is programmed to auto-correct / auto-change some data as we enter it. This is great most of the time, and who knows how often it has saved us from an embarrassing mistake.

Dates

However, auto-correction can cause problems at other times. For example, what do we want if we enter 1/1 into Excel? Do we want the result of 1? Or do we want 1st January? In this case, Excel assumes we want 1st January of the current year.

Dates are the most common type of automatic conversion. Dates in Excel are actually numbers, based on the number of days since 31st December 1899. So, assuming the current year is 2022, if we enter 1/1, Excel thinks we want 1st January 2022 (which is the number 44562). We can see this when we change the date to a number format.

We tried to enter a value of 1/1 and ended up with a value of 44562. Hmmm… that could cause us an issue.

Leading Zeros (#12)

We have already seen above in #3 that leading zeros can be a problem.

If we try to enter a number with leading zeros, such as 0005321, Excel assumes we don’t want the leading zeros and converts the number to 5321.

To retain leading zeros, we should either:

• Add an apostrophe at the start
• Convert the data type to text before entering value

Hidden rows and columns (#13)

This is one of my pet peeves. Hidden rows and columns cause so many problems for Excel users. In my opinion, they should be avoided at all costs.

Let’s look at an example:

Look at the screenshot above. The formula in Cell B5 is:

=SUM(B2:B4)

Is this result correct? Actually, Yes. But the hidden row make the result look wrong. This is because the hidden row contains an additional value, as we can see when we unhide row 3.

If we want a calculation that excludes hidden cells, we should consider using the AGGREGATE or SUBTOTAL function.

Binary to decimal conversion (#14)

Computers store numbers using binary (a mixture of 1 and 0’s). Yet we learn numbers using a decimal base 10 system. As a result, Excel must convert between binary and decimal numbers, which can lead to some unexpected differences.

We know one-third (1/3) cannot be expressed as a decimal; it calculates as 0.333333… recurring into infinity. So we tend to use an approximation with a reduced number of digits.

In binary, there are also numbers that have a recurring number into infinity. One-tenth (1/10) can easily be expressed as a decimal: 0.1. But in binary, it is 00011001100110011… recurring into infinity.

Excel calculates to 15 significant digits. Therefore, it is possible for minor rounding differences to occur due to the conversion from binary to decimal. While this may be insignificant, if this is used in a logic statement, it can lead to an alternative result.

Check out this post for more details: Excel can calculate the wrong results: WARNING

Conclusion

In this post we have given you the most likely reasons we find Excel formulas not calculating as expected. I trust these 14 techniques have helped to solve your problem.

If you’ve found any other simple issues which cause incorrect calculations, please add them in the comments below.

Related posts:

• Why does Excel’s calculation mode keep changing?
• 7 ways to remove additional spaces in Excel