How To Display Formulas In Excel
Excel is widely used for calculations, data analysis, and financial modeling. Often, you might need to view the actual formulas in a spreadsheet rather than just the results they produce. Displaying formulas in Excel can help with auditing, error-checking, or sharing your work transparently. Fortunately, Excel offers simple methods to switch between viewing results and viewing formulas. Here is how to display formulas in Excel.
- Use the Keyboard Shortcut
The fastest way to display all formulas in an Excel sheet is by using the built-in keyboard shortcut.
- Press Ctrl + ` (the grave accent key, usually found above the Tab key on your keyboard).
- This instantly switches the view to display formulas in all cells instead of their results.
- Press Ctrl + ` again to toggle back to normal view.
This method is quick and doesn’t change your data—it only affects how it is displayed.
- Use the Formulas Tab in the Ribbon
You can also use the Excel ribbon if you prefer a more visual method.
- Go to the Formulas tab on the ribbon.
- In the Formula Auditing group, click Show Formulas.
- All formulas in your worksheet will now be visible.
- Click Show Formulas again to return to normal view.
This is useful if you’re not comfortable with keyboard shortcuts or prefer to work through menus.
- Adjust Column Widths if Needed
When formulas are displayed, they often take up more space than regular values. If you see cut-off text or symbols like ####, it means the column isn’t wide enough.
- Simply double-click the right edge of the column header to auto-fit it.
- Alternatively, drag the edge to manually increase the width.
This ensures you can see the full formula in each cell.
- Display Formulas in a Single Cell
If you only want to show the formula in one specific cell instead of executing it, you can do this:
- Type a single apostrophe (‘) before the equal sign (=) when entering your formula.
- For example, type ‘ =A1+B1 to show =A1+B1 as plain text.
This treats the formula as text instead of calculating it.
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