I have dead cells scattered randomly throughout spreadsheets, sometimes.

If I put =5+5, that's what I get "=5+5"

F9 doesn't work.

It is not on Manual calc.

It is not every cell, just some of them.

To correct it I have to add rows or columns repeatedly until I get one that works.

HOW can I fix this?

thank you,

Those cells are probably formatted as text, select a cell and press Ctrl-1 and have a look. To apply first-aid and bring them back to life, clear formats or apply your chosen numberformat.

Hi

This is the forum to discuss questions about MS Excel develop (VBA). For your question is about formulas in Word, I will move the thread to the TechNet forum for Excel.

The reason why we recommend posting appropriately is you will get the most qualified pool of respondents, and other partners who read the forums regularly can either share their knowledge or learn from your interaction with us.

Thank you for your understanding.

Best Regards,

Lan

If you run this macro the Text property will be removed and formulas will display normally:

Sub FixText()
    Dim r As Range
    
    For Each r In ActiveSheet.UsedRange
        If r.NumberFormat = "@" Then
            r.NumberFormat = "General"
            r.Value = r.Value
        End If
    Next r
End Sub

Reinstalling MS Office worked!

I guess I had a bad Excel.

Thank you for your help.

Hi Gee,

This issue sounds like there are some un-expected formatting in the cells. We need to convert them to numbers in Excel.

You might try the suggestions of above replies, and here is more reference:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/291047

Regards,

George Zhao
TechNet Community Support