Going nuts in Excel 2003

R

Rich D

Hi guys & gals,

I must have a button pushed or something that I don't know about. I'm
entering =IF($L5="","",$C5). That's exactly what it shows in the cell. It's
as if I have it preceded with a ', but I don't. I set the format to
general,,,still no good. Other cols it won't let me change the format.
These are brand new worksheets so I don't know what the problem is. Is it
the num lock or insert key??

thanks for any help.
 
R

Rich D

that enables me to see all my formulas or not, but it didn't solve the
problem. There is something messed up in that it won't allow me to change
formats in cells either.
 
M

Mike Rogers

Rich

Make sure the cell is not formated to text BEFORE you enter your formula.
If the cell is formated to text and the formula is in place delete the
formula>formate as GENERAL> re-enter the formula and it should work. There
are also other ways to do the same thing but this works.

Mike Rogers
 
J

JE McGimpsey

Once the formula is entered as Text, changing cell number format has no
effect, since XL interprets it as as text string.

Format the cell as General, then reenter the formula.
 
H

Herbert Seidenberg

I think your second problem is the key:
....it won't let me change the format in other columns...
Both problems could be explained if you had
extra spaces, CHAR(0160) in your cells.
Find/Replace ALT+0160 in all cells.
Type the number from the keypad.
 
G

Gord Dibben

Rather than deleting and re-entering the formula, just hit F2 then ENTER key
after formatting to General.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP
 
M

Mike Rogers

Gord

I knew there was a key stroke to do it....just could't remember it <vbg>

Mike Rogers
 
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