In Excel: check Formulas ▸ Calculation Options is on Automatic, make sure the cell is not formatted as Text, and confirm Show Formulas (Ctrl+`) is off.
On this page7
Open Formulas ▸ Calculation Options and set it to Automatic.
Select the offending cell and look at Home ▸ Number: if it says Text, change it to General.
Press F2 then Enter on that cell to re-commit it, or select the column and use Data ▸ Text to Columns ▸ Finish to re-enter a whole range at once.
Press Ctrl+` to toggle Show Formulas off if every formula on the sheet is displaying as text.
Press Ctrl+Alt+F9 to force a full rebuild when a single value still looks stuck, and check the status bar for a Circular References warning.
Need it as an auditable file?
Ships inside the linked template — formula-driven, unlocked, audit-ready.
What this does
A formula that displays its own text, or a number that never updates, has one of four causes and they are worth checking in order: calculation is set to Manual; the cell was formatted as Text before the formula was typed, so Excel stored it as a string; Show Formulas is toggled on for the whole sheet; or the entry begins with a stray apostrophe that forces it to be treated as text. Before you run it on a workbook other people depend on, try it on a copy or a few rows first. Undo only reaches back through the current session, so a quick trial run is the cheapest way to see exactly what will change before the file is saved and shared. The difference between a quick fix and a sheet you can trust is the extra minute you spend validating “why are formulas not working in excel”. Start on a copy or a tiny sample, keep the affected formula visible, and compare the result with the tool above before you touch the real workbook. When this is a ribbon command, the selection matters more than the button: confirm the range, apply the command, then spot-check the output before saving. The point is a calculation you can defend to a CFO or an auditor, but the practical win is that someone else can open the file and understand what happened without asking you.
A worked example
C2 shows =B2*1.2 instead of 60. The Number group reads Text. Set it to General, press F2 then Enter to re-commit the entry, and the cell displays 60. Applying General alone changes nothing — the stored value is still a string until the cell is re-entered. Every one of these failures looks like a broken formula and none of them is, so the time is lost rewriting a formula that was correct all along. When the result is not what you expected, undo straight away rather than repairing it by hand — undo restores the sheet exactly, while manual fixes tend to leave small inconsistencies behind that surface later.
In Google Sheets
This is a command rather than a formula, so there is no syntax to carry over. Google Sheets arranges its commands in menus across the top instead of a ribbon, names some of them differently and does not have every Excel command — look for the equivalent in the Sheets menus or its help before assuming the steps match. The aim was to get you unstuck fast and leave you a little more capable than a copy-paste would. The answer is at the top and the detail above shows why it holds — so the next time a colleague asks, you can answer without reaching for search. The short version of “why are formulas not working in excel”: the answer is at the top of this page, and the sections above explain why each step matters, so a variation of the problem does not stump you. Try it once on a copy of a real file and the steps stick far better than re-reading them.
Common mistakes
- Setting the cell to General and expecting it to calculate without re-entering — the format change alone does not re-parse the stored text.
- Leaving calculation on Manual for one heavy workbook and not noticing that the mode applies to every file opened in that session.
- Ignoring the word Calculate in the status bar, which is Excel saying results on screen are out of date.
- Deleting and retyping the formula in a cell that is still formatted as Text, which reproduces the problem exactly.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my formula show as text instead of a result?
The cell is formatted as Text, or the entry starts with an apostrophe. Set the format to General and re-enter it with F2 and Enter.
Why does one workbook calculate and another not?
Calculation mode is saved with the file, and the first workbook opened in a session sets the mode for all of them.
What is the difference between F9 and Ctrl+Alt+F9?
F9 recalculates what Excel thinks has changed. Ctrl+Alt+F9 recalculates everything, which is what to use when a value is stuck.
The status bar says Calculate — what does that mean?
Manual mode is on and results are stale. Press F9, or switch Calculation Options back to Automatic.