Tip-Tuesday

Excel Formula or Value?

Cell Inspector

Inspector holding a magnifying glass
Tim Emerick - Senior Consultant

By Tim Emerick - Senior Consultant

1 min read
Auditing spreadsheets for instances where a value was typed in to overwrite a formula can be tedious and for large spreadsheets, seemingly impossible.

Here's a handy trick to view if cells in a spreadsheet contain a value or a formula.

Here is a small spreadsheet calculating a commission.  Last month we over-rode a formula with a value and now this month the values seem off.
Snippet of an excel spreadsheetTo inspect cells to see if they contain a formula or a value you could cursor around to each cell and look at the formula bar, or you could simply show all cell formulas or values.  To do this, head to the formula bar in Excel and select Show Formulas.

We can quickly see what cells have values and should have formulas instead.  To return to the original view, simply click the button again.
Excel Spreadsheet Formula BarFor more tips to help make your job and life easier, feel free to subscribe to our blog.  Our team of Trimble Viewpoint Vista, Sage 300, and Excel experts are ready to help you with any challenge.  Click the Book-A-Call button to schedule an appointment on our calendar that fits with your busy schedule.
 
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