Drag and Apply not working for formulas in Excel

Question

When dragging and dropping a formula in Excel, the formula updates (in this case "=B1 - 1000000" which was dragged from the A2 cell where it was "=A1 - 1000000") but the result does not update (see attached).

Answer 1

Hi Alex,

I have seen this before. Can you please try a few things for me?

1. Click into any of the affected cell's formula bars at the top and press enter. See if the cell is updated.
2. Hit F9, which is the default "recalculate all formulas in workbook" hotkey and ensure all values update

Also please go to File>Options then navigate to the formulas tab and ensure the first option under Calculation Options, Workbook Calculation, shows that the Automatic radio button is selected.

Please let me know if your issue persists.

Thanks,

EBW

Answer 2

Hello, 

there are a few things you can check. The first scenario is the most likely.

• Calculation: On the Formulas ribbon, ensure that the Calculation Options are set to "Automatic", not "Manual". If you want to have manual calculation, you need to hit the F9 function key to recalculate the formulas
• Cell format. Ensure the cells are formatted as numbers, not text. If you find a cell is text, change it to a number format, then edit the formula and hit Enter again. 
• circular references. Have you received a warning that there are circular references in your workbook? If so, find and remove them.