[Fix] Excel formula not showing result

Summary: Is your Excel spreadsheet showing text of a formula you’ve entered and not its result? This blog explains the possible reasons behind such an issue. Also, it describes solutions to fix the ‘Excel formula not showing result’ error. You can try Stellar Repair for Excel software to recover engineering and shared formulas.

Sometimes, when you type a formula in a cell of worksheet and press Enter, instead of showing the calculated result, it returns the formula as text. For instance, Excel cell shows:

But you should get the result as:

Why Does Excel Show or Display the Formula Not the Result?

Following are the possible reasons that may lead to the ‘Excel showing formula not result’ issue:

1. You accidentally enabled “Show Formulas” in Excel.
2. The cell format in a spreadsheet is set to text.
3. ‘Automatic calculation’ feature in Excel is set to manual.
4. Excel thinks your formula is text (Syntax are not followed).
5. You type numbers in a cell with unnecessary formatting.

How to Fix ‘Excel Showing Formula Not Result’ Issue?

Solution 1 – Disable Show Formulas

If only the formula shows in Excel not result, check if you have accidentally or intentionally enabled ‘show formula’ feature of Excel. Instead of applying calculations and then showing results, this feature displays the actual text written by you.

You can use the ‘Show Formulas’ feature to quickly view all formulas, but if you are not aware of this feature, and enabled it accidentally, it can be a headache. To disable this mode, go to ‘Formulas’ and click on ‘Show formula enabled.’ If it’s previously enabled, it will be disabled by just clicking on it.

Solution 2 – Cell Format Set to Text

Another possible reason that only formula shows in Excel not result could be that the cell format is set to text. This means that anything written in any format in that cell will be treated as regular text. If so, change the format to General or any other. To get Excel to recognize the change in the format, you may need to enter cell edit mode by clicking into the formula bar or just press F2.

Solution 3 – Change Calculation Options from ‘Manual’ to ‘Automatic’

There is an “automatic calculation” feature in Excel, which tells Excel to do calculations automatically or manually. If ‘Excel formula is not showing results’, it may be because the automatic calculations feature is set to manual. This issue is not easily detected because it results in calculating formula in one cell but if you copy it to some other cell, it will retain the first calculation and will not recalculate on the base of the new location. To fix this, follow these steps:

• In Excel, click on the ‘File’ tab on the top left corner of the screen.
• In the window that opens, click on ‘Options’ from the left menu bar.
• From ‘Excel Options’ dialog box, select ‘Formulas’ from the left side menu and then change the ‘Calculation options’ to ‘Automatic’ if it’s currently set as ‘Manual’.

• Click on ‘OK’. This will redirect you to your sheet.

Solution 4 – Type Formula in the Right Format

There is a proper way to tell Excel that your text is a formula. If you don’t write the formula in a particular format, Excel considers it as simple text and hence no calculations are performed according to it. For this reason, keep the following in mind when typing a formula:

• Equal sign: Every formula in Excel should start with an equal sign (=). If you miss it, Excel will mistake your formula as regular text.

• Space before equal sign: You are not supposed to enter any space before equal sign. Maybe a single space will be hard for us to detect, but it breaks the rule of writing formulas for Excel.

• Formula wrapped in quotes: You need to make sure that your formula is not wrapped in quotes. People usually make this mistake of writing a formula in quotes, but in Excel, quotes are used to signify text. So your formula won’t be evaluated. But you can add quotes inside formula if required, for example: =SUMIFS(F5:F9,G5:G9,”>30″).

• Match all parentheses in a formula: Arguments of Excel functions are entered in parenthesis. In complex cases, you may need to enter more sets of parenthesis. If those parentheses are not paired/closed properly, Excel may not be able to evaluate the entered formula.

• Nesting limit: If you are nesting two or more Excel functions into each other, for example using nested IF loop, remember the following rules:

  • Excel 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, and 2007 versions only allow to use up to 64 nested functions.
  • Excel 2003 and lower versions only allow up to 7 nested functions.

Solution 5 – Enter Numbers without any Formatting

When you use a number in the formula, make sure you don’t enter any decimal separator or currency sign, e.g. $, etc. In an Excel formula, a comma is used to separate arguments of a function and a dollar sign makes an absolute cell reference. Most of these special characters have built-in functions so avoid using them unnecessarily.

What to Do If the Manual Solutions Don’t Work?

If you’ve tried out the manual solutions mentioned above but still unable to resolve the ‘Excel formula not showing result’ issue, you can try repairing your Excel file with the help of an automated Excel repair software , such as Stellar Repair for Excel.

This reliable and competent software scans and repairs Excel files (.XLSX and .XLS). It also helps recover all the file components, like formulas, cell formatting, etc. Armed with an interactive GUI, this software is extremely easy to work with, and its advanced algorithms allow it to fend off Excel errors with ease.

Conclusion

This blog outlined the possible reasons that may cause ‘Excel not showing formula results’ issue. Check out these reasons and implement the manual fixes, depending on what resulted in the problem in the first place. If none of these fixes help resolve the issue, corruption in the Excel file might be preventing the formulas from showing the actual results. In that case, using Stellar Repair for Excel tool might help.

Solved - The File is Corrupted and Cannot be Opened - Excel

Summary: Unable to open Excel file due to the error ‘The file is corrupted and cannot be opened’? Read this blog to find more details about the error, possible reasons behind it, and solutions to fix the error. In addition, the blog mentions about Stellar Repair for Excel software that can help fix the Excel error in a few clicks. Download the software now and see free preview of the file.

About the Error

Microsoft Excel is a widely used spreadsheet application that comes bundled with MS Office. Users tend to update the application with new security patches and features. Sometimes these updates can cause problems, and result in “The file is corrupted and cannot be opened” error.

Figure 1 – Excel File Corrupted Error Message

Other Possible Reasons behind ‘The File is Corrupt and Cannot Be Opened’ Excel Error

• Opening an older Excel version file in a newer version of Excel. For instance, opening Excel 2013, 2010, or earlier versions in Excel 2016.
• When attempting to open a Microsoft Office (Excel) email attachment in Microsoft Outlook 2010, MS Office 2010 reports a problem with the file preventing it from opening.

How to Fix the ‘Excel File is Corrupt and Cannot Be Opened’ Error?

Here are a few possible solutions that you can try to fix the ‘Excel file is corrupt and cannot be opened’ issue and open your Excel file.

Solution 1: Changing Component Services Settings

Solution 2: Changing the Protected View Settings

Solution 3: Repair Excel Files using Excel Repair Software

Solution 1: Changing Component Services Settings

[Caution] Changing Component Services settings requires making changes to the registry, and any mistake can harm your computer.

Follow these steps to change ‘Component Services’ settings:

• Click ‘Start’ or ‘Win+R’ and type ‘dcomcnfg’ and press ‘Enter’.

• In the navigation pane, expand the ‘Component Services’, and then expand ‘Computers’.

---

Figure 2 – Component Services Settings

• Next, right-click on ‘My Computer’, and then click ‘Properties’.

When the ‘My Computer Properties’ dialog box appears, click on the ‘Default Properties’ tab and then set the following values:

• Default Authentication Level: Connect
• Default Impersonation Level: Identify

Figure 3 – Illustrates My Computer Properties

• Click ‘OK’ to change ‘Default Properties’

Solution 2: Changing the Protected View Settings

[Caution] Disabling the ‘Protected View’ can put your system at high risk. Viruses attached to the Excel files can attack and infect your system. Be careful before using this option.

Excel 2010 file cannot open due to the ‘Protected View’ setting in Microsoft Outlook 2010. And so, changing the setting may help fix the error. For this, perform these steps:

• Open MS Excel 2010, go to the ‘File’ menu and click ‘Options’.

Figure 4 – Options

• When the ‘Excel Options’ window opens, click on ‘Trust Center’ and then on ‘Trust Center Settings’.

Figure 5 – Open Trust Center Settings

• Next, choose ‘Protected View’ and uncheck all the options including ‘Enable Protected View for Outlook attachments’ if you use Outlook for email.

Figure 6 – Uncheck Protected View Settings

• Click ‘OK’. Restart the application and try opening the Excel file again.

If none of the above solutions works for you, your Excel file is likely severely corrupt. To repair corrupt Excel files, you need to use advanced options like Stellar Repair for Excel tool. It repairs corrupt and damaged Excel files and helps in retrieving lost data.

Solution 3: Use Excel File Repair Tool

Considering the risks associated with the above solutions, it’s better to use an Excel repair tool to repair single or multiple corrupt Excel files at once. The process is simple, and even a novice can use the Excel file repair tool to repair Excel files with the help of the following steps:

• Download Stellar Repair for Excel and install it.

• Launch the tool. In the tool’s main interface, click ‘Browse’ to select the file. If you don’t know the file location use the ‘Search’ option.

Figure 7 – Illustrates Selecting Corrupt Excel File in Stellar Repair for Excel

• Select the file, and then click on Repair.

Figure 8 – Illustrates Initiating Excel File Repair in Stellar Repair for Excel

• The software scans and lists the Excel file in the left pane. Click on the file to preview its recoverable objects in the right pane.

Figure 9 – Illustrates Preview of Recoverable Excel File Objects

• Save the repaired file at either the default location or a user-specified location.

Figure 10 – Illustrates Saving Repaired Excel File in Stellar Repair for Excel

• Click ‘OK’ to save the repaired Excel file. After the repair process is completed, browse to the location and open it with MS Excel 2010 or any other version.

Figure 11 – Illustrates Saving Complete Message in Stellar Repair for Excel

You will be able to access your Excel file from the selected location.

Conclusion

You can use the first two possible solutions to fix the “The file is corrupted and cannot be opened” error. If you can access the file, save its data and restore the default settings. However, if the file is corrupt and the data retrieved using the first two solutions is inconsistent or incomplete, use Stellar Repair for Excel. This tool can help you recover Tables, Charts, Chart Sheets, cell comments, Images, and Formulas while preserving the worksheet properties and cell formatting. You can also preview the file and verify the data inside the file before saving it.

How to Fix the Unable to Record Macro Error in Excel?

Summary: You may encounter the “Unable to record macro” error in MS Excel when using Personal Macro Workbooks. In this post, we’ll discuss the possible causes behind this error and the ways to fix it. We’ll also mention a professional Excel repair tool that can help fix the error if it occurs due to corrupted workbook.

A personal macro workbook (Personal.xlsb file) is a hidden workbook in Excel that stores all macros in a single workbook. This allows you to automate processes while working in Excel. Sometimes, when recording macro codes in the personal macro workbook, you may get the message “Personal Macro Workbook in a startup folder must stay open for recording”. When you click on the OK button, it will show the “unable to record” error. This prevents you from recording the macros. Below, we’ll see the causes behind this error and discuss how to resolve this error.

Causes of Unable to Record Macro Error

You may be unable to record macros in Excel due to several reasons. Let’s take a look at the possible causes that can lead to this issue.

• The location of personal.xlsb file is changed.
• Personal.xlsb file is corrupted.
• Macros are disabled.

Methods to Fix the “Unable to Record Macro” Error in Excel

Here are some possible solutions that can help you resolve the unable to record macro error in Excel.

Method 1: Check the Path of XLStart Folder

You may be unable to record macros if the path of XLStart folder is incorrect. It is a folder where the Personal.xlsb file is stored by default. Follow these steps to find out the path of this folder:

• Open MS Excel. Go to File > Options.
• Click Trust Center > Trust Center Settings.

• In the Trust Center Settings window, click on Trusted Locations.

• Verify the path of the XLSTART folder and modify it if there is an issue.
• Once you are done, click on OK.

Method 2: Change Macro Security

The “Unable to record macro” error can occur if macros are disabled in the Macro Security settings. You can try changing the macro settings using the below steps:

• In MS Excel, go to File > Options > Trust Center.

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• Under Trust Center, click on Trust Center Settings.

• Select “Enable all macros” and then click OK.

Method 3: Check Add-ins for Disabled Items

If there are any items in add-ins that are disabled, they may prevent Excel from functioning properly. You can check and enable the items in MS Excel using the below steps:

• Click File > Options.

• In Excel Options, click on the Add-ins option.
• Select Disabled Items from the Manage section and click on Go.

• The Disabled Items window is displayed.
• Click on the disabled item and then click Enable.
• Restart Excel for the changes to take place.

Method 4: Repair your Excel File

You may fail to record macros if there is corruption in the workbook. In such a case, you can use the “Open and Repair” utility in MS Excel to repair the corrupt workbook. To use this tool, follow these steps:

• Open your Excel application.
• Click File > Open.
• Browse to the location where the corrupted file is stored.
• In the Open dialog box, choose the corrupted workbook.

• From the Open dropdown list, click Open and Repair.

Excel will prompt you to repair the file or extract data from it. Click Repair to retrieve maximum data. If the Repair option fails, then click on the Extract Data option to recover the data without formulas and values.

If the Microsoft utility “Open and Repair” fails to repair the corrupted Excel workbook, then try a professional Excel repair tool such as Stellar Repair for Excel. It is an advanced tool that can easily repair severely corrupted Excel (XLSX and XLS) files. It can recover all the file items, including chart sheets, cell comments, tables, macros, formulas, etc. without impacting the properties and cell format of the Excel file.

Closure

You may receive the “unable to record” error in Excel while creating or storing macros in Personal Macro Workbooks. There are several reasons that can lead to this error. You can try the methods covered in this post to resolve the error. If the error appears due to corruption in workbook, then try to repair it using the Open and Repair utility. Alternatively, you can use Stellar Repair for Excel – a professional tool that can help you repair an Excel file with problematic macros. Also, it allows recovery of all the file components with complete integrity. The tool is compatible with Excel 2021, 2019, 2016, and older versions.

How to Fix “File Not Loaded Completely” Error in Excel?

Summary: You may get the “File not loaded completely” error when opening a large-sized Excel file. Read this post to understand the causes behind this issue and the troubleshooting solutions to fix this Excel error. Also, you’ll get to know about an Excel repair tool that can help fix the issue if the cause is corruption in the Excel file.

Several users have reported experiencing the “File not loaded completely” error while opening Excel spreadsheets or when importing CSV file into Excel. This error can occur if the worksheet has crossed the maximum rows and columns limit , i.e., 1048576 rows by 16,386 columns. However, this issue can also occur due to various other reasons. Let’s take a look at the possible causes behind this error.

Why this Error Occurs?

The “File not loaded completely” issue can occur due to one of the following reasons:

• The Excel file you are trying to open is corrupted.
• The Excel file is too large.
• The Excel file has crossed the rows limit.
• Memory issue in your system.

Methods to Resolve the “File not Loaded Completely” Error

Following are some methods you can try to fix the Excel file not loaded completely issue.

Method 1: Try to Import the Spreadsheet into MS Access

A large-sized Excel file takes time and memory to load. When you try opening a large file, you may get the “file not loaded completely” error. It indicates your file contains unwanted rows and columns. In such a case, you can try importing your spreadsheet into Access. By doing this, you can easily access the rows and columns in the database table, and then remove the extra rows. Follow the steps below to import your spreadsheet into Access:

• Open a blank database in Access application.
• Navigate to the External Data tab and then click on the Excel button.

• In the Get Data-Excel Spreadsheet window, click Browse.

• In the File Open dialog box, select the Excel file (in which you are getting the error) and click Open.

• Select Import the source data into a new table in the current database and click OK.

• In the Import Spreadsheet Wizard window, you’ll see all the rows and columns of your Excel file. Click Next.

• In the dialog box that appears, you can modify the field information (extra columns or rows).

• Once you performed the changes, click on the Next button.

• Provide a name to the table.

• Next, select the option “I would like a wizard to analyze my table after importing the data” (if you want to analyze the data) and click Finish.
• You will get a dialog box with a message. Click Yes.
• The Table Analyzer wizard will appear on the screen.

• Click on the Next button.

• Follow the instructions of the Table Analyzer wizard.
• Once you complete all the steps, select “Save import step” and click Close.

Method 2: Split Your Large Excel File

You may face the Excel file not loaded completely issue when importing a large Excel file. In such a case, you can try splitting your large file into smaller ones. To split the file, you can use VBA codes or the move or copy feature.

Method 3: Stop Unwanted Processes Running in the Background

Sometimes, you get the “File not loaded completely” error if you are running multiple files or programs simultaneously. You can check and stop unnecessary background processes in Windows using your system’s Task Manager. Here are the steps:

• Press the Ctrl+Shift+Esc keys to open the Task Manager window.

• Navigate to the Processes tab and check the Memory section.
• You can see the memory consumption of all the applications in your system.
• Select the unwanted applications and click on End Task.

Now, try to open the Excel file.

Method 4: Repair your Excel File

Sometimes, Excel throws the “File not loaded completely” error if it fails to read the data in your file. This might happen if your Excel file is corrupt. You can use the Open and Repair utility in Excel to repair your Excel file. Follow the below steps:

• In Excel, click the File tab and then click Open.
• Click Browse to select the desired file.
• In the Open dialog box, click on the corrupted file.
• Click on the arrow next to the Open button and then select Open and Repair.

•  Click on the Repair button.

• After repair, you will see a message as shown in the below figure.

• Click Close.

An Alternative Solution

If your file gets corrupted, then repairing it using the “Open and Repair” utility is a good option. However, the Open and Repair utility may not work if the file is severely damaged or corrupted. In such a case, you can use a professional Excel repair tool, such as Stellar Repair for Excel. This tool is primarily designed to repair inaccessible or corrupted Excel files. It can effectively work even if your file is too large or severely damaged. It can recover all the data from the corrupted Excel file without impacting its actual format. The software supports Excel files of almost all Excel versions.

Conclusion

The File not loaded completely issue in Excel may occur due to numerous reasons. Try the troubleshooting methods listed above to resolve the issue. If the Excel file is corrupt, then you can try repairing your file using the Open and Repair tool. However, it can fix only minor corruption issues. If your file is severely corrupted, then use Stellar Repair for Excel . The software offers you the safest way to repair your Excel file without making any changes in the formatting. You can download the free trial version of the software today to scan and preview the Excel file.

‘Open and Repair’ Doesn’t Work in MS Excel

Summary: In this Blog, we will go through Microsoft office most important product i.e Microsoft excel, let’s get into all possible Manual and an alternate method to deal with MS Excel open and Repair doesn’t work issue, read on to know more.

Whether you are a student or an entrepreneur, the features of Microsoft Excel do not delude anyone. Setting goals, creating budgets, analyzing data, calculating salaries, is there anything that Excel can’t do? All of us have used it and trusted it to calculate and provide a solution to our most difficult problems. However, like every other software application, this otherwise reliable application can sometimes fall prey to unexpected errors which can even threaten to make our critical data inaccessible.

A good idea to avoid loss of data when a Microsoft Excel file becomes corrupt is to take some proactive measures, such as saving a backup copy of your files and creating an automatic recovery file at periodic intervals. If you are faced with a corrupted Excel file, you know you can still use the ‘Open and Repair’ function provided by Microsoft to fix and open corrupt Excel file. However, what should a user do when ‘Open and Repair’ is not working? This is a query shared by millions of Excel users worldwide. Sometimes, the ‘Open and Repair’ functionality of Excel stops working due to unknown reasons. In such cases, if users face Excel file corruption, they get stuck with no idea how to fix the Excel file.

Manual method “Reference”

In this guide, we’re providing you with the solutions to this very problem. If Excel ‘Open and Repair’ is not working, read on to find out the procedures that you can perform to open corrupted files.

‘Open and Repair’ doesn’t work: Try an alternative solution i.e. Stellar Repair for Excel to recover everything from corrupt Excel files.

How to Fix Excel file that Won’t Open

If your workbook is opening in Excel, there are two options to recover its data. It would be best if you try to perform one, and if you are unsuccessful, move on to the next.

Revert the workbook to the version that was saved before the corruption

• Launch Excel and click File -> Open

• Select the file that is corrupted and open it
• Click ‘Yes’ to save the copy of the workbook that was saved before corruption

Important Note: If you use this method, you will lose all changes made to the file after it was corrupted.

Save the workbook in the SYLK file format

• Launch Excel and click File -> Save As.
• In the Save as Type field, select SYLK (Symbolic Link) from the drop-down menu, and click Save.

• To save only the active sheet in the workbook, click OK. The system will display a message that the sheet has features that are not compatible with the SYLK file format.
• Click Yes.
• In Excel click File -> Open.
• Select the file that you saved in SYLK file format and open it.
• In Excel click File -> Save As.
• In the Save as Type field, select Excel Workbook from the drop-down menu.
• In the File Name field, type a new name for your workbook and click Save.

The SYLK file format will filter out the corrupted elements from your workbook, thereby restoring your data.

Important Note: Using this method you only be able to salvage the active sheet in the workbook.

How to Open/Fix an Excel file that cannot be opened

In this case too, there are two options to recover the data. Try to perform one, and if you are unsuccessful, move on to the next.

Set the calculation option to Manual

• Launch Excel and click File -> New.

• From the Available Templates window, select Blank workbook.

• Click File -> Options.
• Under Formulas, in the Calculation options section, click Manual.

• Click OK.
• In Excel click File -> Open.
• Select the corrupted file and open it.

The system opens the corrupted file. Since the workbook won’t be calculated, it might open.

Link the workbook to external references

• Launch Excel and click File -> Open.
• Copy the name of the corrupted file and click Cancel.
• In Excel click File -> New.
• From the Available Templates window, select Blank workbook.
• In the new workbook, on cell A1, type the following:

=File Name!A1

In the above command, the filename is the name of the corrupted file.

• On the Update Values dialog box, select the corrupted file and click OK.
• On the Select Sheet dialog box, select the sheet and click OK.
• Select cell A1. Select the same range of rows and columns as occupied by the data in the corrupted sheet, including cell A1.
• Under the Home tab, in the Clipboard section, click Paste.
• While the range of rows and columns are still selected, click Copy.
• Click the Paste
• Under Paste Values, click Values.

Note: This method lets you recover only the data but not the values and formulas from the workbook.

Alternative Solution

In addition to the above-mentioned techniques, you can also use macros to extract data from a corrupted workbook. However, macros are generally risky, and executing them needs prior technical knowledge.

Thus, if the above methods do not yield the desired results, a quick and easy way for reconstructing Excel files is to use Excel Recovery Software . Stellar Repair for MS SQL software is the best choice for rebuilding damaged Excel files and restoring everything to a new Excel file. The product lets you recover table, chart, chart-sheet, cell comment, image, formula, sort and filter data from damaged workbooks and also allows you to fix multiple files at one go.

Wrapping it up

Though one of the above-mentioned techniques should recover Excel file if ‘_Open and Repair’ utility doesn’t work_, in case you’ve reached nowhere even after using them, contact Microsoft support for more help.

Get Rid of corrupt Excel File

Summary: What to do when an Excel file is corrupted? This is a common question that is often asked by Microsoft Excel users. If you too are seeking an answer to this question, read the blog to learn about a few manual workarounds and a specialized Excel file repair tool to resolve the Excel file corruption issue.

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An Excel file gets corrupted due to various reasons such as a virus/malware attack, sudden system shutdown when the Excel file is still open, power failure while working with an Excel spreadsheet, etc.

When Microsoft Excel detects corruption in a workbook, it attempts to repair the workbook by starting ‘File Recovery mode’.

Tip! If the file recovery mode doesn’t start, you may use the manual repair process or an Excel repair tool, such as Stellar Repair for Excel to repair a corrupted Excel file. The software can help you quickly retrieve contents from a damaged, corrupt, or inaccessible Excel file and restore the file to its original state.

There even exist a few manual tips that can be used to recover data from damaged MS Office Excel files.

Workarounds to Use When an Excel File is Corrupted

Note: Before carrying out any of the repair and recovery workarounds, it is advised that you must save a backup copy of the damaged file. This is to prevent your files from turning completely inaccessible in case the methods fail to give desired results.

Click here

### **Workaround 1: Use the Open and Repair Method**

If MS Excel cannot repair a corrupted workbook automatically, you can try to do it manually. To do so, perform the following:

• Open the corrupt file, like you normally open any file, by clicking File > Open.
• Browse and locate the folder containing the corrupted document.
• When the Open dialog box is displayed:
• Select the Excel document.
• Click on the arrow present to the right side of the Open button and select Open and Repair option.

Figure 1 – Open and Repair Feature

If this doesn’t help repair the broken Excel file or you encounter  Open and Repair does not work issue, proceed with the next workaround.

Tip! Try an alternative solution, i.e. Stellar Repair for Excel software to repair and recover corrupt Excel files (.xlsx or .xls) when the ‘Open and Repair’ method won’t work.  

Workaround 2: Restore an Excel File with a Shadow Copy

If you’re a Windows 7 or Vista user, you can try restoring the corrupted spreadsheet by using a shadow copy (or a previous version). [Shadow copy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Copy#:~:text=Shadow%20Copy%20(also%20known%20as,the%20Volume%20Shadow%20Copy%20service .) is basically a snapshot (backup copy) of computer files or volumes. The snapshot may contain an older version of your Excel file that has become damaged now. To find out, do the following:

• Launch File Explorer, and right-click the folder in which the file is saved.
• Choose Properties.
• Look for and click the Previous Versions tab. This will display a list of entries under Folder versions or File versions, going back a few days or weeks.
• Double-click one with a date when the file was accessible and could be read. Then, try to open its older version. If it opens, save the older version with a new name and execute the procedure with new file/folder entries.

Figure 2 – Volume Shadow Copy

You would have to repeat the process until you reach the point where the file became damaged. With this, you will get a baseline version of the file, but data may still have been lost.

Workaround 3: Test your Assumptions

If you receive a message saying “Excel file corrupted and cannot be opened”, you would probably believe it. However, there could be other reasons besides corruption that may cause Excel to throw this error message.

Your Office suite, which Excel is a part of, maybe having some primary issues in it causing problems while opening one Excel document. So, try opening another Excel file to check if the problem exists with all the files or just one.

If other Excel documents work correctly, it means that only the particular document is corrupt. On the contrary, if the issue is with your Office suite, repairing the current Office installation may help fix the issue. For this, perform these steps:

• Go to Control Panel and click Uninstall the Program.
• Choose Office.
• Click Change, and hit the Repair button.

You can reinstall the entire Office package. Once reinstalled, try to open the file to check if the issue has been fixed and the Excel file repaired.

Figure 3 – MS Office Repair

Workaround 4: Use Excel File Repair Tool

If the above manual solutions fail, use Excel repair software to successfully repair your damaged Excel workbook and recover all its data. Essentially, the software rebuilds damaged Excel workbook data at a granular level to recover every single object & all the original properties of the workbook.

Suggested Read: How to repair corrupt Excel files using Stellar Repair for Excel?

Why Use Stellar Repair for Excel Software?

• Repairs severely corrupted XLSX and XLS files.
• Can handle corrupt Excel files of any size.
• Demo version allows previewing recoverable Excel file items for free.
• Supports Microsoft Excel 2019 and all lower versions.
• Compatible with Windows 10 and lower versions.
• Tested and recommended by Microsoft Excel MVPs.

Final Word

When an Excel file is corrupted, it won’t open at all or you won’t be able to access all the file data. Such a situation can lead to unnecessary halts, impacting work productivity.

There are manual workarounds that may help fix the corrupt Excel file and recover its data, such as the ones covered in this blog. However, these solutions might not work in severe corruption cases and may require technical assistance. Also, they may result in some data loss.

To overcome the limitations of manual workarounds, it is recommended to go for a professional Excel file repair tool such as Stellar Repair for Excel . It helps repair corrupt Excel (XLS or XLSX) files and restores all worksheet data, such as the table, chart, chart sheet, cell comment, sort and filter, image, formula, etc. in a few simple clicks. Moreover, the software provides a free preview of the recoverable data with its demo version. You can check the preview to evaluate how the software works.

[Fix] Excel formula not showing result

Summary: Is your Excel spreadsheet showing text of a formula you’ve entered and not its result? This blog explains the possible reasons behind such an issue. Also, it describes solutions to fix the ‘Excel formula not showing result’ error. You can try Stellar Repair for Excel software to recover engineering and shared formulas.

Sometimes, when you type a formula in a cell of worksheet and press Enter, instead of showing the calculated result, it returns the formula as text. For instance, Excel cell shows:

But you should get the result as:

Why Does Excel Show or Display the Formula Not the Result?

Following are the possible reasons that may lead to the ‘Excel showing formula not result’ issue:

1. You accidentally enabled “Show Formulas” in Excel.
2. The cell format in a spreadsheet is set to text.
3. ‘Automatic calculation’ feature in Excel is set to manual.
4. Excel thinks your formula is text (Syntax are not followed).
5. You type numbers in a cell with unnecessary formatting.

How to Fix ‘Excel Showing Formula Not Result’ Issue?

Solution 1 – Disable Show Formulas

If only the formula shows in Excel not result, check if you have accidentally or intentionally enabled ‘show formula’ feature of Excel. Instead of applying calculations and then showing results, this feature displays the actual text written by you.

You can use the ‘Show Formulas’ feature to quickly view all formulas, but if you are not aware of this feature, and enabled it accidentally, it can be a headache. To disable this mode, go to ‘Formulas’ and click on ‘Show formula enabled.’ If it’s previously enabled, it will be disabled by just clicking on it.

Solution 2 – Cell Format Set to Text

Another possible reason that only formula shows in Excel not result could be that the cell format is set to text. This means that anything written in any format in that cell will be treated as regular text. If so, change the format to General or any other. To get Excel to recognize the change in the format, you may need to enter cell edit mode by clicking into the formula bar or just press F2.

Solution 3 – Change Calculation Options from ‘Manual’ to ‘Automatic’

There is an “automatic calculation” feature in Excel, which tells Excel to do calculations automatically or manually. If ‘Excel formula is not showing results’, it may be because the automatic calculations feature is set to manual. This issue is not easily detected because it results in calculating formula in one cell but if you copy it to some other cell, it will retain the first calculation and will not recalculate on the base of the new location. To fix this, follow these steps:

• In Excel, click on the ‘File’ tab on the top left corner of the screen.
• In the window that opens, click on ‘Options’ from the left menu bar.
• From ‘Excel Options’ dialog box, select ‘Formulas’ from the left side menu and then change the ‘Calculation options’ to ‘Automatic’ if it’s currently set as ‘Manual’.

• Click on ‘OK’. This will redirect you to your sheet.

Solution 4 – Type Formula in the Right Format

There is a proper way to tell Excel that your text is a formula. If you don’t write the formula in a particular format, Excel considers it as simple text and hence no calculations are performed according to it. For this reason, keep the following in mind when typing a formula:

• Equal sign: Every formula in Excel should start with an equal sign (=). If you miss it, Excel will mistake your formula as regular text.

• Space before equal sign: You are not supposed to enter any space before equal sign. Maybe a single space will be hard for us to detect, but it breaks the rule of writing formulas for Excel.

• Formula wrapped in quotes: You need to make sure that your formula is not wrapped in quotes. People usually make this mistake of writing a formula in quotes, but in Excel, quotes are used to signify text. So your formula won’t be evaluated. But you can add quotes inside formula if required, for example: =SUMIFS(F5:F9,G5:G9,”>30″).

• Match all parentheses in a formula: Arguments of Excel functions are entered in parenthesis. In complex cases, you may need to enter more sets of parenthesis. If those parentheses are not paired/closed properly, Excel may not be able to evaluate the entered formula.

• Nesting limit: If you are nesting two or more Excel functions into each other, for example using nested IF loop, remember the following rules:

  • Excel 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, and 2007 versions only allow to use up to 64 nested functions.
  • Excel 2003 and lower versions only allow up to 7 nested functions.

Solution 5 – Enter Numbers without any Formatting

When you use a number in the formula, make sure you don’t enter any decimal separator or currency sign, e.g. $, etc. In an Excel formula, a comma is used to separate arguments of a function and a dollar sign makes an absolute cell reference. Most of these special characters have built-in functions so avoid using them unnecessarily.

What to Do If the Manual Solutions Don’t Work?

If you’ve tried out the manual solutions mentioned above but still unable to resolve the ‘Excel formula not showing result’ issue, you can try repairing your Excel file with the help of an automated Excel repair software , such as Stellar Repair for Excel.

This reliable and competent software scans and repairs Excel files (.XLSX and .XLS). It also helps recover all the file components, like formulas, cell formatting, etc. Armed with an interactive GUI, this software is extremely easy to work with, and its advanced algorithms allow it to fend off Excel errors with ease.

Conclusion

This blog outlined the possible reasons that may cause ‘Excel not showing formula results’ issue. Check out these reasons and implement the manual fixes, depending on what resulted in the problem in the first place. If none of these fixes help resolve the issue, corruption in the Excel file might be preventing the formulas from showing the actual results. In that case, using Stellar Repair for Excel tool might help.