Excel cell text not value

Symptoms

In Microsoft Excel, if you enter a formula that links one cell to a cell that is formatted with the Text number format, the cell that contains the link is also formatted as text. If you then edit the formula in the linked cell, the formula is displayed in the cell rather than the value that is returned by the formula.

Cause

When you link cells in Microsoft Excel, the format of the original cell is applied to the linked cell. Therefore, if you enter a formula that links one cell to a cell formatted as text, the cell with the formula is also formatted as text.

Workaround

To display the calculated value rather than the formula, you must change the format of the cell containing the formula and re-enter the formula. To do this, follow these steps:

Select the cell with the formula, and then click Cells on the Format menu.
Click the Number tab. Select the format code that you want the cell to display, and then click OK. The cell still displays the formula.
Select the cell with the formula, press F2, and then press ENTER. The cell displays the value.
In the same cell, click Cells on the Format menu. The cell format category will be Text.
Specify the category and format options for the cell and then click OK.

Need more help?

Источник

Possible Duplicate:
Excel 2010 conditional formatting: selectively highlighting duplicates

I have dates that are running off a formula in that column based on information it’s collecting from other worksheets. I have another column that lists text answers based on a different formula that that column is running.

It is a customer list that runs with names going down page and multiple columns of information for each client running across page

What I want to do is:

If column J says paid then turn column M — same row — a color or border or something.

I will repeat this formula for the various things that J can say, I just can’t figure out how to make conditional formatting read J to change M.

To complicate things, in addition to the formula running to collect the date in column M, there is also a conditional format set up for M that changes the color of the cells after a certain date. I want to be able to keep that formula, in addition to the one that you are assisting with. I will use highlighting, or something different to avoid any conflicts.

Источник

EXPLANATION

This tutorial shows how to test if a cell contains text and return a specified value if the test is True or False by using Excel formulas or VBA.

This tutorial provides three Excel methods that can be applied to test if a cell contains text.

The first method uses a combination of an Excel IF and ISTEXT functions. The ISTEXT function test if the selected cell contains text. If it does then the function will return a TRUE value. The IF function is then used to return a specified value if the ISTEXT function returns a value of TRUE, which in this example is «Contains Text». Alternatively, if the ISTEXT function returns a value of FALSE, then the cell does not contain text and the IF function will return the associated value, which in this example is «No Text».

The second method uses a combination of an Excel IF and ISNUMBER functions. The ISNUMBER function test if the selected cell is a numeric value. If the cell is a numeric value, meaning that there are no text values, then the function will return a TRUE value, alternatively if the cell contains a text value, the function will return a FALSE value. The IF function is then used to return a specified value if the ISNUMBER function returns a value of FALSE, which in this example is «Contains Text». Alternatively, if the ISNUMBER function returns a value of TRUE, then the cell does not contain text and the IF function will return the associated value, which in this example is «No Text».

The third method uses a combination of an Excel IF and COUNTIF functions. The COUNTIF function uses the «*» to identify if the cell contains text. If the cell contains text the COUNTIF function will return a value of 1, alternatively it will return a value of 0. The IF function is then used to return a specified value if the COUNTIF function returns a value greater than 0, which in this example is «Contains Text». Alternatively, if the COUNTIF function returns a value of 0, then the cell does not contain text and the IF function will return the associated value, which in this example is «No Text».

This tutorial provides six VBA methods that can be applied to test if a cell contains text and return a specific value. Methods 1, 3 and 5 are applied against a single cell, whilst methods 2, 4 and 6 use a For Loop to loop through all of the relevant cells, as per the example in the image, to test each of the cells in a range and return specific values. The main difference between the examples is how the code determines is the cell contains text.

FORMULA (using ISTEXT function)
=IF(ISTEXT(value)=TRUE, value_if_true, value_if_false)

FORMULA (using ISNUMBER function)
=IF(ISNUMBER(value)=FALSE, value_if_true, value_if_false)

FORMULA (using COUNTIF function)
=IF(COUNTIF(value, «*»)>0, value_if_true, value_if_false)

ARGUMENTS
value: The value or cell that is to be tested.
value_if_true: Value to be returned if the value or cell contains text.
value_if_false: Value to be returned if the value or cell does not contains text.

Источник

Excel has a number of formulas that help you use your data in useful ways. For example, you can get an output based on whether or not a cell meets certain specifications. Right now, we’ll focus on a function called “if cell contains, then”. Let’s look at an example.

Jump To Specific Section:

Explanation: If Cell Contains
If cell contains any value, then return a value
If cell contains text/number, then return a value
If cell contains specific text, then return a value
If cell contains specific text, then return a value (case-sensitive)
If cell does not contain specific text, then return a value
If cell contains one of many text strings, then return a value
If cell contains several of many text strings, then return a value

Excel Formula: If cell contains

Generic formula

=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("abc",A1)),A1,"")

Summary

To test for cells that contain certain text, you can use a formula that uses the IF function together with the SEARCH and ISNUMBER functions. In the example shown, the formula in C5 is:

=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("abc",B5)),B5,"")

If you want to check whether or not the A1 cell contains the text “Example”, you can run a formula that will output “Yes” or “No” in the B1 cell. There are a number of different ways you can put these formulas to use. At the time of writing, Excel is able to return the following variations:

If cell contains any value
If cell contains text
If cell contains number
If cell contains specific text
If cell contains certain text string
If cell contains one of many text strings
If cell contains several strings

Using these scenarios, you’re able to check if a cell contains text, value, and more.

Explanation: If Cell Contains

One limitation of the IF function is that it does not support Excel wildcards like «?» and «*». This simply means you can’t use IF by itself to test for text that may appear anywhere in a cell.

One solution is a formula that uses the IF function together with the SEARCH and ISNUMBER functions. For example, if you have a list of email addresses, and want to extract those that contain «ABC», the formula to use is this:

=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("abc",B5)),B5,""). Assuming cells run to B5

If «abc» is found anywhere in a cell B5, IF will return that value. If not, IF will return an empty string («»). This formula’s logical test is this bit:

ISNUMBER(SEARCH("abc",B5))

Read article: Excel efficiency: 11 Excel Formulas To Increase Your Productivity

Using “if cell contains” formulas in Excel

The guides below were written using the latest Microsoft Excel 2019 for Windows 10. Some steps may vary if you’re using a different version or platform. Contact our experts if you need any further assistance.

1. If cell contains any value, then return a value

This scenario allows you to return values based on whether or not a cell contains any value at all. For example, we’ll be checking whether or not the A1 cell is blank or not, and then return a value depending on the result.

Select the output cell, and use the following formula: =IF(cell<>»», value_to_return, «»).
For our example, the cell we want to check is A2, and the return value will be No. In this scenario, you’d change the formula to =IF(A2<>»», «No», «»).
Since the A2 cell isn’t blank, the formula will return “No” in the output cell. If the cell you’re checking is blank, the output cell will also remain blank.

2. If cell contains text/number, then return a value

With the formula below, you can return a specific value if the target cell contains any text or number. The formula will ignore the opposite data types.

Check for text

To check if a cell contains text, select the output cell, and use the following formula: =IF(ISTEXT(cell), value_to_return, «»).
For our example, the cell we want to check is A2, and the return value will be Yes. In this scenario, you’d change the formula to =IF(ISTEXT(A2), «Yes», «»).
Because the A2 cell does contain text and not a number or date, the formula will return “Yes” into the output cell.

Check for a number or date

To check if a cell contains a number or date, select the output cell, and use the following formula: =IF(ISNUMBER(cell), value_to_return, «»).
For our example, the cell we want to check is D2, and the return value will be Yes. In this scenario, you’d change the formula to =IF(ISNUMBER(D2), «Yes», «»).
Because the D2 cell does contain a number and not text, the formula will return “Yes” into the output cell.

3. If cell contains specific text, then return a value

To find a cell that contains specific text, use the formula below.

Select the output cell, and use the following formula: =IF(cell=»text», value_to_return, «»).
For our example, the cell we want to check is A2, the text we’re looking for is “example”, and the return value will be Yes. In this scenario, you’d change the formula to =IF(A2=»example», «Yes», «»).
Because the A2 cell does consist of the text “example”, the formula will return “Yes” into the output cell.

4. If cell contains specific text, then return a value (case-sensitive)

To find a cell that contains specific text, use the formula below. This version is case-sensitive, meaning that only cells with an exact match will return the specified value.

Select the output cell, and use the following formula: =IF(EXACT(cell,»case_sensitive_text»), «value_to_return», «»).
For our example, the cell we want to check is A2, the text we’re looking for is “EXAMPLE”, and the return value will be Yes. In this scenario, you’d change the formula to =IF(EXACT(A2,»EXAMPLE»), «Yes», «»).
Because the A2 cell does consist of the text “EXAMPLE” with the matching case, the formula will return “Yes” into the output cell.

5. If cell does not contain specific text, then return a value

The opposite version of the previous section. If you want to find cells that don’t contain a specific text, use this formula.

Select the output cell, and use the following formula: =IF(cell=»text», «», «value_to_return»).
For our example, the cell we want to check is A2, the text we’re looking for is “example”, and the return value will be No. In this scenario, you’d change the formula to =IF(A2=»example», «», «No»).
Because the A2 cell does consist of the text “example”, the formula will return a blank cell. On the other hand, other cells return “No” into the output cell.

6. If cell contains one of many text strings, then return a value

This formula should be used if you’re looking to identify cells that contain at least one of many words you’re searching for.

Select the output cell, and use the following formula: =IF(OR(ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«string1», cell)), ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«string2», cell))), value_to_return, «»).
For our example, the cell we want to check is A2. We’re looking for either “tshirt” or “hoodie”, and the return value will be Valid. In this scenario, you’d change the formula to =IF(OR(ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«tshirt»,A2)),ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«hoodie»,A2))),»Valid «,»»).
Because the A2 cell does contain one of the text values we searched for, the formula will return “Valid” into the output cell.

To extend the formula to more search terms, simply modify it by adding more strings using ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«string», cell)).

7. If cell contains several of many text strings, then return a value

This formula should be used if you’re looking to identify cells that contain several of the many words you’re searching for. For example, if you’re searching for two terms, the cell needs to contain both of them in order to be validated.

Select the output cell, and use the following formula: =IF(AND(ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«string1»,cell)), ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«string2″,cell))), value_to_return,»»).
For our example, the cell we want to check is A2. We’re looking for “hoodie” and “black”, and the return value will be Valid. In this scenario, you’d change the formula to =IF(AND(ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«hoodie»,A2)),ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«black»,A2))),»Valid «,»»).
Because the A2 cell does contain both of the text values we searched for, the formula will return “Valid” to the output cell.

Final thoughts

We hope this article was useful to you in learning how to use “if cell contains” formulas in Microsoft Excel. Now, you can check if any cells contain values, text, numbers, and more. This allows you to navigate, manipulate and analyze your data efficiently.

We’re glad you’re read the article up to here Thank you

Symptoms

Cause

Workaround

Need more help?

Excel Formula: If cell contains

Explanation: If Cell Contains

Using “if cell contains” formulas in Excel

1. If cell contains any value, then return a value

2. If cell contains text/number, then return a value

Check for text

Check for a number or date

3. If cell contains specific text, then return a value

4. If cell contains specific text, then return a value (case-sensitive)

5. If cell does not contain specific text, then return a value

6. If cell contains one of many text strings, then return a value

7. If cell contains several of many text strings, then return a value

Final thoughts

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