Formula errors in excel

«Errors are an opportunity to improve». In any task or system, errors occur. Excel is no exception. While trying to do something with a formula, you will encounter various types of excel errors. These errors can make your formula/dashboard/reports absolute waste. And if you don’t know why a specific type of error has occurred, you may have to spend hours to resolve them.

While working on excel, I have encountered many excel errors. With some struggle and google searches, I worked around those errors. In this article, I will explain some common and annoying excel errors that occur in Excel. We will discuss why these errors occur and how to solve them.

What are Excel Formula Errors
While applying a formula that results in an excel defined errors (#NA, #VALUE, #NAME etc.) is called excel formula errors. These errors are caught by excel and printed on the sheets. Reasons for these errors can be, unavailable values, incorrect types of arguments, division by 0, etc. They are easy to catch and fix.

Logical errors are not caught by Excel and they are most difficult to fix. Inconsistency in data, wrong data entry, human errors etc. are a common reasons behind these errors. They can be fixed too but they take time and effort. It is better to prepare your data perfectly before doing operation on them.
Catching Excel Formula Errors:

There is some dedicated functions in excel to catch and handle a specific type of errors ( like ISNA function). But ISERROR function and IFERROR function are two functions that can catch any kind of Excel Error (except logical).

Excel #NA Error
#NA error occurs in excel when a value is not found. It simply means NOT AVAILABLE. #NA error is often encountered with Excel VLOOKUP function.

In above image, we are getting #NA error when we look for «Divya» in the A column. This is because «Divya is not in the list.

Solving #NA Error

If you are sure that the lookup value must exist in the lookup list then the first thing you should do is check the lookup value. Check if the lookup values are correctly spelled. If not then correct it.

Secondly, you can do a partial match with VLOOKUP or any lookup function. If you are sure that some parts of the text must match then use this.
If you are not sure that value exists or not then it can be used to check if a value exists in the list or not. In the image above, we can say that Divya is not on the list.

If you want to catch the #NA error and print or do something else instead of printing #NA error then you can use Excel ISNA function. ISNA function returns TRUE if a function returns #NA error. Using this, we can avoid #NA error. ISNA works amazingly with the VLOOKUP function. Check it out here.

Excel #VALUE Error
The #VALUE occurs when the supplied argument is not of a supported type. For example, if you try to add two texts using arithmetic plus operator (+), you will get a #VALUE error. The same thing will happen if you try to get a year of an invalid date format using the YEAR function.

How to fix a #VALUE error?

First, confirm the data type you are referring to. If your function requires a number, then make sure that you refer to a number. If a number is formatted as text then use the VALUE function to convert them into a number. If a function requires text (like DATEVALUE function) and you referring to a number or date type then convert them to text.

If you expect that there can be a #VALUE error and want to catch them, then you can use ISERR, ISERROR or IFERROR to catch and do something else.

Excel #REF Error
The ‘ref’ in #REF stands for reference. This error occurs when a formula refers to a location that does not exist. This happens when we delete cells from ranges to which a formula refers too.

In the below gif, the sum formula refers to A2 and B2. When I delete A2, the formula turns into a #REF error.

Solve Excel #REF error:
The best thing is to be careful before deleting cells in data. Make sure that no formula refers to that cell.

If you have #REF error already then trace then delete it from the formula.

For example, once you get a #REF error, your formula will look like this.

=A2+#REF!

You can just remove the #REF! From the formula to get an error-free formula. If you want to do it in bulk then use find and replace feature. Press CTRL+H to open find and replace. In find box, write #REF. Leave replace box empty. Hit Replace All button.

If you want to readjust the reference to a new cell then do it manually and replace the #REF! With that valid reference.

Excel #NAME Error
The #NAME occurs in excel when it can’t identify a text in a formula. For example, if you misspell a function’s name, excel will show the #NAME error. If a formula refers to a name that does not exist on the sheet, it will show #NAME error.

In the above image, the cell B2 has formula =POWERS(A2,2). POWERS is not a valid function in excel, hence it returns a #NAME error.

In cell B3 we have =SUM(numbers). The SUM is a valid function of excel but «numbers» named range does not exist on sheet. Hence excel returns #NAME? Error.

How to avoid #NAME error in excel?

To avoid #NAME error in excel always spell function names correctly. You can use excel suggestions to be sure that you are using a valid function. Whenever we type characters after the equals sign, excel show functions and named ranges on the sheet, starting from that character/s. Scroll down to function name or range name in the suggestion list press tab to use that function.

Excel #DIV/0! Error
As the name suggests, this error occurs when a formula results in division by zero. This error may also occur when you delete some value from a cell on which a division formula is dependent.

How to solve #DIV/0! Error.

This can be easily solved by being careful with data and putting a check if a formula will result in #DIV/0! error. Here is a sample formula to do so.

=IF(B2=0, A2, A2/B2)

We will have DIV/0 error only if the divisor is 0 or blank. Hence we check the divisor (B2), if its a zero then print A2 else divide A2 with B2. This will work for blank cells too.

Excel #NUM Error

This error occurs when a number can’t be displayed on the screen. The reason can be that the number is too small or too big to be displayed. Another reason could be that a calculation can’t be performed with given number.

This will return 4. If you want to get the negative value then use the negative sign before the function. Then of course you can use error handling function of course.
On solving #NUM error we have a dedicated article. You can check it here.

#NULL Error in Excel
This is a rare type of error. #NULL error caused by incorrect cell referencing. For example if you want to give reference of a range A2:A5 in SUM function, but by mistake you type A2 A5. This will generate #NULL error. As you can see in below image, the formula returns #NULL error.
If you replace space with column (:) then the #NULL error will be gone and you’ll get sum of the A2:A5. If you replace space with comma (,) , you will get sum of A2 and A5.

How to solve #NULL error?

As we know that the #NULL error is caused by typo. To avoid it, try to select ranges using curser instead of typing it manually.

There will be times when you have to type range address from keyboard. Always take care of the connecting symbol column (:) or comma (,) to avoid.

If you have existing #NULL error then check the references. Most probably you have missed column (:) or comma (,) between two cell references. Replace them with appropriate symbol and you are good to go.
###### Error in Excel
Sometimes we think that this error is caused due to insufficient space to show a value, but this is not the case. In this case you can just extend the width of the cell to view the value in cell. I won’t call it an error.
In fact, this error caused when we try to show a negative time value (there no such thing as negative time). For example, if we try to subtract 1 from 12:21:00 PM it will return ######. In excel the first date is 1/1/1900 00:00. If you try to subtract time that goes before that, excel will show you ###### error. The more you expand the width the more # you will get. I have elaborated it in this article.

How to avoid ###### Excel error?
Before doing arithmetic calculations in excel with time value keep these things in mind.

• The minimum time value is  1/1/1900 00:00. You can’t have a valid date before this in excel
• 1 is equal to 24 hours (1 day) in excel. While subtracting hours, minutes and seconds, convert them into equivalent values. For example, to subtract 1 hour from 12:21 PM, you need to subtract 1/24 from it.

Tracking Down Errors in Excel
Now we know what common excel formulas are and why they occur. We also discussed what possible solution can be for each type of excel errors.
Sometimes in excel reports, we get errors and we couldn’t know from where the error is actually occuring. It gets hard to solve these kind of errors. To track down these errors excel provides error tracing functionality in formula tab.

I have discussed error tracing in excel in detail.

Solving Logical Errors in Formula

Logical errors are tough to find and resolve. No massage shown by excel when you have a logical error in your function. Everything looks fine. But only you know that there something is wrong there. For example, while getting percentage of a part of whole, you would divide part by total (=(part/total)*100). It should be always equal or less then 100%. When you get more than 100%, you know something is wrong.

This was a simple logical error. But sometimes your data comes from several sources, in that case it gets hard to solve logical problems. One way is to evaluate your formula.

In formula tab, evaluate formula option is available. Select you formula and click on it. Each step of your calculation will be show to you that leads to your final result. Here you can check where the problem has occurred or where the calculation has gone wrong.

You can also yous trace dependents and precedents to see on which references your formula depends and what formulas depends on a perticular cell.

So yeah guys, these were some common error types every excel user faces. We learned why each type of error occurs and how can we avoid them. We learned about dedicated error handling excel function too. In this article, we have links to related pages that discuss the problem in detail. You can check them out. If you have any specific type of error that is annoying you, mention it in the comments section below. You will get the solution sortly.

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#VALUE Error And How to Fix It in Excel

How to Trace and Fix Formula Errors in Excel

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It is not uncommon to encounter errors in spreadsheets.  But thankfully Microsoft has equipped Excel with tools to help resolve errors in Excel formula.  This includes the ability to evaluate formula and set error checking options.  

In this article we will cover step by step the options available to help resolve errors in Excel formula.

Tracing Formula Precedents and Dependents

Tracing precedents allows you to backtrack through all of the cells that are used to calculate a formula. This allows you to quickly find and identify what values a selected formula is dependent on. In the image below, we have selected cell D2. This cell contains a formula that calculates monthly payments:

Next, we clicked Formulas → Trace Precedents:

You will now see a blue arrow drawn across the current row, where all of the data used by the currently selected formula appears. Each blue dot on this arrow corresponds to a value that is used in the formula, while the arrowhead points to the end value. In this particular example, you can see that cells A2, B2, and C2 are all used by the formula in D2 to calculate the end value:

The Trace Dependents command works the opposite way of Trace Precedents: it highlights all the items that depend on the value in the current cell. This command will not work for values in the Monthly Payment column (D) because it has no dependents. However, the Loan Period (B) column does have dependents.

If we Click cell B4 and then click Formulas → Trace Dependents:

Another blue arrow will be drawn from the selected cell, pointing towards the dependent cell, which in this case is the formula in cell D4:

As you can see in the images, the Trace Precedents and Trace Dependents commands can be used at the same time.

To remove the arrows, click Formulas → Remove Arrows (drop-down arrow):

Clicking on the Formulas → Remove Arrows command directly will remove all arrows from the worksheet. The drop-down command allows you to remove all arrows, remove only precedent arrows, or remove only dependent arrows:

For this example, we have clicked Remove Arrows. All arrows on the current workbook will be removed:

Showing Formulas

When working with multiple formulas in your workbook, it is sometimes easier to view all of the formulas in the worksheet rather than their computed values.

To do this, click Formulas → Show Formulas:

All formulas will now be displayed in full. This command will also expand the column widths for all columns so that formulas are easier to read:

Click Formulas → Show Formulas again to return to the default view that shows calculated values and returns columns to their normal widths.

If you are using later versions of Excel, you can also use the function FORMULATEXT.

The syntax for FORMULATEXT is

=FORMULATEXT(reference)

where reference is the cell containing the formula that you want to display.

Working with Formulas

When you are working with a formula there are a number of options to help you avoid errors or to correct errors.

A quick reminder for those that have forgotten, you can edit the formula in a selected cell by pressing F2.  When a formula is in edit mode, the corresponding cells in the workbook are color coded.  This makes the formula easy to debug.

When you are entering a formula or in edit mode, you can check for accuracy as you go along.  Highlight any part of the formula in the formula bar and press F9.

This will calculate that part of the formula for you and show you the result in the formula. 

However using F9 comes with a heath warning.  You must press ESC to return the formual to the original state.  If you press enter when in F9 mode, the formula will accept the calculated value and not the original formual.

Evaluating Formulas

Tracing formula precedents and dependents allows you to quickly and accurately track what a selected formula is doing. The Evaluate Formula command takes this concept one step further by showing you every single calculation that was used by the formula to reach its end value.

To use this command, first select the cell that contains the formula that you would like to work with. For this example,  we have selected cell D2:

Next, click Formulas → Evaluate Formula:

This action will open the Evaluate Formula dialog box, which will show the formula that will be evaluated. Click Evaluate to step into the first part of the formula:

In this case, you can see that “A2” in the formula was replaced to show “.06” (that cell’s actual value). Click the Step In button:

Clicking the Step In button will dive one level deeper in the formula, just as the Show Precedents/Show Dependents command would backtrack an additional level. Here, the value of B2 is shown in a separate text area. Click Step Out to hide the separate text area and progress to the next step:

Now, the next value is highlighted and the option to step in is available again. Click Evaluate to continue:

Continue clicking the Evaluate button to step through all the calculations one at a time. Stop when all the values of the formula are displayed and the entire formula is underlined. Click the Evaluate button once more:

The end result of this formula will now be displayed:

Clicking Restart will start the process over from the beginning. Click Close:

Setting Error Checking Options

Excel 2013 includes robust error checking features that have been refined over many different versions to catch just about any formula mistake. However, the effectiveness of error checking depends on Excel being properly configured.

To view and manage these settings, click File → Options:

Then, click the Formulas category. Options to help you construct formulas and check them for errors can be found here:

Using Error Option Buttons

If automatic error checking is enabled, Excel will notify you when a formula error occurs. In the sample worksheet, cell D4 contains a #NAME? error. Click cell D4 and click the option button that appears:

If you hover over the option button, you will see a ScreenTip describing the error. Clicking the option button itself will show commands for resolving the error and modifying error checking options:

Click inside the worksheet to close the menu.

Running an Error Check

The Error Check feature works similar to the spell check feature found in most word processing applications. While Excel does actively check for errors while you are creating formulas, there are some problems that Excel’s automatic checking cannot account for.

Run an error check by clicking Formulas → Error Checking:

When the Error Checking tool is launched, it will immediately search your workbook for any formula errors. Any errors that are found will be listed one at a time. In this example, an error will be found in D2:

Cell D2 contains a naming error: the cell reference “A” is incomplete. You can use the buttons on the right to:

• Open the Help file for specific information about this error
• Show the calculation steps that were followed in order to reach this point
• Ignore this error for the time being
• Fix the error by hand with the formula bar

As well, the Options button will open the Excel Options dialog to the Formulas category, where you can customize Excel’s error handling settings.

Click Next to move to the next error

If no other errors are found in the current worksheet, a dialog will be displayed. Click OK: