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Display Excel Cell content result in Formula Bar instead of the Formula as an option.

Anonymous
2017-01-31T21:34:09+00:00

In Excel 2016, I have a cell (A17)  that contains a formula =VLOOKUP([@[HL Code]],Table1[#All],11,0). The cell A17's formula result contains many characters of text returned by the VLOOKUP function. I want to see the formula results in cell (A17) without having to expand the cell width to suit the number of characters.  This could be done with an option to show the full text result instead of the formula in the Formula Bar., although other solutions might be available. Help please

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-02-01T08:10:37+00:00

    The formula bar shows the formula. That's what it's there for. You can edit the formula, select the whole contents of the formula bar and then hit F9. That will evaluate the formula in the formula bar and you will see the result of the formula there. But when you then hit Enter or use any other way to confirm the cell, the result will stay in the formula bar and the original formula will be overwritten. Typically, the F9 trick is used to troubleshoot formulas and after using it you'd hit Esc to return the cell to its original formula.

    So, no, there is no way to do what you describe. The cell in the spreadsheet grid contains the result. If the result does not fully fit, you need to resize the cell to see it all. Some people have suggested an in-cell scroll bar, but that has not yet been implemented.

    Don't shoot the messenger.

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-02-01T06:34:28+00:00

    I am hoping to see the result without having to move to a different part of the worksheet. The Formula bar would be the best place, if its contents could show the formula result rather than the formula.

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-02-01T17:27:09+00:00

    I think I shall get a VBA procedure to create cell comments containing the results of the formula. The comment box will open when hovering over it.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-02-01T06:30:51+00:00

    That requires a larger cell, and I dont have the space for it.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-01-31T21:45:22+00:00

    Have you tried Wrap Text?

    Format Cells (Ctrl+1) > Alignment > Wrap Text.

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