How to Display Formulas in Excel Step-by-Step Guide

Excel is a powerful tool for organizing and analyzing data. One of its key features is the ability to create and use formulas to perform calculations on data in cells. However, when working with complex formulas, it can be difficult to keep track of the calculations being performed. That’s where the “display formula” feature in Excel comes in handy.

By default, Excel displays the results of formulas in cells. But sometimes you need to see the actual formula itself, either for troubleshooting purposes or to share the formula with others. To show the formula instead of the result, you can use the “display formula” option in Excel.

To display a formula in Excel, you need to select the cell or cells containing the formula and then go to the “Formulas” tab in the Excel ribbon. From there, click on the “Show Formulas” button. This will change the display of the selected cells to show the formulas instead of the results.

This feature is especially useful when working with complex formulas that involve multiple functions and references to other cells. By displaying the formula, you can easily see how Excel is calculating the result and identify any errors or issues in the formula. It also allows you to share the formula with others, making it easier to collaborate and troubleshoot together.

Why Displaying Formulas is Important

When working with a worksheet in Excel, it is common to use formulas to perform calculations and manipulate data. By default, Excel displays the results of these formulas, making it easy to see the final values. However, there are times when it is important to display the actual formulas themselves.

Displaying formulas in Excel can be useful for a variety of reasons:

• Verification: By displaying the formulas, you can easily verify that they are correct. This is especially important when dealing with complex calculations or when collaborating with others on a spreadsheet.
• Understanding: Seeing the formulas can help you understand how the calculations are being performed. This can be helpful when troubleshooting errors or when trying to replicate a specific calculation in another worksheet.
• Documentation: Displaying formulas can serve as documentation, making it easier for others to understand and work with your worksheet. This is particularly useful when sharing spreadsheets with colleagues or clients.
• Learning: If you are new to Excel or want to improve your skills, displaying formulas can be a great way to learn how different functions and formulas work together to calculate results. By studying the formulas, you can gain a deeper understanding of Excel’s capabilities.

Excel provides several ways to display formulas:

1. Show Formulas: This option can be found in the “Formulas” tab of the Excel ribbon. When enabled, Excel will display the formulas instead of the calculated results.
2. Cell Formatting: You can format cells to display the formulas by using the “Text” format. This will prevent Excel from calculating the results and instead show the formulas as text.
3. Formula Auditing: Excel’s formula auditing tools, such as the “Trace Precedents” and “Trace Dependents” features, can help you visualize the relationships between cells and understand how formulas are being used.

By utilizing these options, you can easily display formulas in Excel and take advantage of the benefits they provide. Whether it’s for verification, understanding, documentation, or learning purposes, showing formulas can greatly enhance your Excel experience.

Benefits of Displaying Formulas

Displaying formulas in Excel can provide several benefits for users. By showing the formulas instead of the calculated values, users can gain a better understanding of how the functions and calculations are performed in the worksheet. This can be particularly useful for complex formulas or when troubleshooting errors.

Here are some key benefits of displaying formulas:

• Transparency: Displaying formulas allows users to see the exact calculations being performed in each cell. This transparency can help users verify the accuracy of their formulas and ensure that the desired calculations are being carried out correctly.
• Learning: By showing formulas, users can learn how different functions and operators are used in Excel. This can be especially helpful for beginners who are just starting to explore the capabilities of Excel and want to understand how formulas work.
• Troubleshooting: When encountering errors or unexpected results in a worksheet, displaying formulas can help identify the source of the problem. By examining the formulas, users can pinpoint any errors or inconsistencies and make the necessary adjustments to fix them.
• Flexibility: Displaying formulas allows users to easily modify or update them. Instead of having to navigate through cells to find specific formulas, users can simply refer to the displayed formulas and make the necessary changes directly.

Overall, displaying formulas in Excel provides users with greater control and understanding of their worksheets. Whether it’s for verifying calculations, learning new functions, troubleshooting errors, or making modifications, showing formulas can greatly enhance the user experience and productivity.

Step 1: Open the Excel Worksheet

To begin displaying formulas in Excel, you first need to open the Excel worksheet that contains the formulas you want to show. Excel is a powerful spreadsheet program that allows you to calculate and manipulate data using formulas.

Here are the steps to open an Excel worksheet:

1. Launch Microsoft Excel on your computer. You can do this by clicking on the Excel icon in your application menu or by searching for “Excel” in the search bar.
2. Once Excel is open, you will see a blank workbook or a list of recently opened workbooks. If you have a specific workbook you want to open, click on “Open” and browse for the file on your computer. If you want to create a new workbook, you can click on “Blank Workbook” or use one of the available templates.
3. After opening the workbook, you will see a blank worksheet with rows and columns. Each cell in the worksheet can contain data or formulas. The formulas are used to perform calculations and manipulate the data in the cells.

Now that you have opened the Excel worksheet, you can start displaying the formulas. Excel provides several ways to show the formulas in your worksheet, including using a keyboard shortcut, the Formula Bar, or the Show Formulas option.

Locate the Excel Application

In order to display formulas in Excel, you need to access the Excel application. Here are the steps to locate it:

1. Open the Excel application on your computer. You can usually find it in your list of installed programs or by searching for “Excel” in the search bar.
2. Once Excel is open, create or open a worksheet that contains the cells with the formulas you want to display.
3. Select the worksheet that contains the formulas by clicking on its tab at the bottom of the Excel window.
4. Click on the cell or cells that contain the formulas you want to display. You can select multiple cells by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking on each cell.
5. With the cells selected, go to the formula bar at the top of the Excel window. The formula bar displays the formula of the currently selected cell.
6. To display the formula in the selected cell or cells, make sure the formula bar is visible. If it’s not visible, you can show it by going to the “View” tab in the Excel ribbon and checking the “Formula Bar” checkbox.
7. Once the formula bar is visible, the formula of the selected cell or cells will be displayed in the formula bar. You can now see the formulas that are used in those cells.

By following these steps, you can easily locate the Excel application and display the formulas in your worksheets. This can be useful for checking and troubleshooting your formulas, as well as understanding how they calculate the values in your cells.

Open the Desired Worksheet

To display formulas in Excel, you need to open the desired worksheet where you want to show the formulas. Excel allows you to enter formulas into individual cells to perform calculations and display the results.

To open a worksheet in Excel, follow these steps:

1. Launch Excel and open the Excel file that contains the worksheet you want to work with.
2. In the Excel window, locate the worksheet tabs at the bottom of the screen. Each tab represents a different worksheet in the file.
3. Click on the tab of the desired worksheet to open it. The worksheet will be displayed in the main Excel window.

Once you have opened the desired worksheet, you can start entering formulas into the cells to perform calculations and display the results. Excel provides a wide range of functions that you can use in your formulas to perform various mathematical, logical, and statistical operations.

By default, Excel automatically calculates the formulas in your worksheet and displays the results. However, if you want to show the actual formulas instead of the results, you can change the display settings in Excel.

Now that you have opened the desired worksheet, you can proceed to enter formulas and display them in Excel.

Step 2: Access the Formula Bar

Once you have entered formulas into your cells, you may want to view or modify them. In Excel, you can access the Formula Bar to do this.

The Formula Bar is located at the top of the Excel worksheet and it displays the contents of the selected cell. It is a handy tool that allows you to easily view and edit the formulas in your worksheet.

To access the Formula Bar, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell that contains the formula you want to view or modify.
2. Look at the top of the Excel window, and you will see the Formula Bar.
3. The Formula Bar displays the formula of the selected cell. If the cell contains a formula, you will see the formula displayed in the Formula Bar.
4. If you want to modify the formula, simply click on the Formula Bar and make the necessary changes.
5. Press Enter or click outside of the Formula Bar to apply the changes.

By accessing the Formula Bar, you can easily view and modify the formulas in your Excel worksheet. This allows you to show or hide formulas, calculate results, and make any necessary adjustments to your formulas.

Locate the Formula Bar

The Formula Bar is a tool in Excel that allows you to display and edit formulas. It is located at the top of the Excel window, just below the toolbar. The Formula Bar is where you can see the formula that is currently being used in a selected cell.

To display the Formula Bar, follow these steps:

1. Open Excel on your computer.
2. Select the cell or range of cells that contain the formula you want to view.
3. Look for the Formula Bar at the top of the Excel window.

The Formula Bar will show the formula used in the selected cell or range of cells. This is useful when you want to check or edit a formula, or when you want to see how a calculation is being done.

For example, if you have a cell that contains the formula =SUM(A1:A5), the Formula Bar will display =SUM(A1:A5) when the cell is selected.

In addition to displaying formulas, the Formula Bar also allows you to enter or edit formulas directly. You can simply click on the Formula Bar and make changes to the formula as needed.

It’s important to note that the Formula Bar will only display formulas for cells that contain a calculation or function. If a cell does not have a formula, the Formula Bar will be empty.

In conclusion, the Formula Bar in Excel is a useful tool for displaying, editing, and calculating formulas in cells. It is located at the top of the Excel window and shows the formula used in a selected cell or range of cells.

Expand the Formula Bar

The formula bar in Excel is the area located above the worksheet grid where you can enter and edit formulas. By default, the formula bar is a single line that can only display a limited amount of text. However, you can expand the formula bar to show more content.

To expand the formula bar in Excel, follow these steps:

1. Click on the cell that contains the formula you want to display in the formula bar.
2. Look for the formula bar at the top of the Excel window. It is located between the ribbon and the worksheet grid.
3. Hover your mouse over the bottom border of the formula bar until the cursor changes to a double-headed arrow.
4. Click and drag the border of the formula bar downwards to expand it.

Once you have expanded the formula bar, you will be able to see the entire formula, even if it is long or complex. This can be helpful when you need to review or edit formulas in your worksheet.

Keep in mind that expanding the formula bar does not affect the actual calculation or display of the formula in the cells of your worksheet. It only affects the display of the formula in the formula bar itself.

Additionally, if you have a long formula that extends beyond the width of the formula bar, you can use the arrow keys or the mouse to scroll horizontally within the formula bar and view the entire formula.

Expanding the formula bar in Excel allows you to easily view and edit formulas in your worksheets, making it a useful feature for working with complex calculations and functions.

Step 3: Display Formulas

In Excel, formulas are used to perform calculations on data in cells. By default, Excel displays the calculated results of formulas in cells. However, if you want to see the actual formulas instead of the results, you can easily do so by following these steps:

1. Select the cells that contain the formulas you want to display.
2. Click on the “Formulas” tab in the Excel ribbon.
3. In the “Formula Auditing” group, click on the “Show Formulas” button.

Once you click on the “Show Formulas” button, Excel will display the formulas in the selected cells instead of the calculated results. This can be useful when you want to check or edit the formulas in your worksheet.

To switch back to displaying the calculated results, simply click on the “Show Formulas” button again.

It’s important to note that when you display formulas in Excel, the formulas themselves are not changed or modified. Excel will still calculate the results based on the displayed formulas.

By using the “Show Formulas” feature in Excel, you can easily toggle between displaying formulas and calculated results, allowing you to effectively work with and troubleshoot your formulas.