Why Excel Shows Formulas Instead of Results (7 Reasons)

For example, we have the following dataset and you see Excel is showing formulas in the cells instead of calculated results. Let’s check how we can solve this problem.

Reason 1 – Using a Space in Front of Excel Formulas Will Show Only Formulas Instead of Results

All formulas must start with an equal sign first. If there’s another character, such as a space, the cell is converted to text and displays its contents as-is. Here’s a dataset with a space before the equals sign in the formulas in the D column.

Using Space Before Equal Sign for Showing Formula Instead of Result

Removing the starting spaces should solve the issue.
If the formula still doesn’t calculate, check the cell format and change it to General.

Reason 2 – Not Using the Equals Sign before a Formula

Without an equals sign at the start, Excel treats the cell as a text string or implicitly converts it to a time, date, or other formats, but doesn’t perform calculations.

Missing of Equal Sign

Reason 3 – Enabling the Show Formulas Option

The Show Formulas option from the Formulas ribbon gets enabled by pressing Ctrl+` from the keyboard. Here’s how the dataset will look in this case.

Keeping ‘Show Formula’ Option Enabled

Go to the Formula ribbon and disable the Show Formulas mode to fix it.

Keeping ‘Show Formula’ Option Enabled

Reason 4 – Cells in the Text format Will Show Formulas Instead of Values

If the cell is formatted as Text, Excel won’t calculate the formula inside.

Formating Cells as Text

Select the cell.
Go to the Home tab.
In the Number Group, click the Formatting drop-down and select General.
Hit the F2 key or double-click the cell.
Hit Enter.

Formatting Cells as Text

Reason 5 – Using an Apostrophe Before the Formula

By putting an Apostrophe at the beginning of the cell, Excel considers it as a text string and doesn’t show the result of the formula. This is the same concept as putting a space before the equals sign.

Using Apostrophe Before the Formula

Reason 6 – If the “Show formulas in cells instead of their calculated results” Setting Is on in the Options

In this dataset, the formulas are formatted properly, but the Excel settings are preventing it from displaying the result.