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How to Show Formula Text in Excel: 4 Simple Methods
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Feb 7, 2025
Learn how to display formula text instead of calculated values in Excel with these 4 easy methods. Whether you're using the Show Formulas button, the FORMULATEXT function, or formatting cells as text, this tutorial has you covered. Discover tips to toggle formula display, display specific formulas, and handle text-formatted cells effectively.
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hi and welcome in this video we'll
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explore four different approaches to
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show formula text in Excel instead of
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the values they calculate the first
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method is to use the show formulas
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button head over to the formulas Tab and
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click on show formulas in the formula
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auditing group when you click this
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button the column widths adjust and the
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formulas are displayed in the cells
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instead of their calculated values this
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is a toggle button so clicking it again
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will return to the normal mode where the
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values are displayed instead of the
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formula text alternatively you can use
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the keyboard shortcut Control Plus the
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backtick key typically located above the
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Tab Key this shortcut saves time
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allowing you to quickly toggle to show
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formulas mode on or off without
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navigating through the ribbon the second
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method involves using the formula text
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function this function accepts a
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reference to a cell that contains a
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formula and Returns the formula as text
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for example if you reference C2 in
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Formula text it will display the formula
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written in cell C2 rather than the value
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it calculates as you can see on the
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screen this approach is useful if you
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want to display the text of specific
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formulas while still allowing the
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original formulas to calculate their
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values this method is ideal for
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scenarios where you need to display the
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formula text for only a few cells rather
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than the entire worksheet the third
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method is to prep into space or an
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apostrophe before entering the formula
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for example type either a leading space
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or apostrophe then write the formula
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doing this ensures that Excel treats the
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formula as plain text displaying it
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exactly as you type it without
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performing any calculations however keep
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in mind that to make the formula
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functional again you must remove the
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leading space or apostrophe the fourth
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method is to format the cells as text
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before entering the formula to do this
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select the cells where you plan to enter
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formulas rightclick choose format cells
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and set the format to text when you type
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formulas in these cells they will not
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calculate and will instead display the
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formula as plain text however note that
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if you format the cells as text after
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entering a formula the formula will
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still calculate to display the formula
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text in this case you must edit the cell
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by double clicking it or pressing F2 and
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then pressing enter if you later want
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the formulas in these cells to calculate
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you'll need to reformat the cells as
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general and re-edit the formulas to
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activate their calculations that's it
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these are four simple methods to show
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formula text in Excel thank you for
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watching please like share and subscribe
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to my channel don't forget to hit the
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notification Bell for more Excel tips
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and tutorials your support helps us
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create more valuable content See you in
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the next video