Discussion
In MS Excel, which of these will Excel not treat as a formula?
Answer: B
Correct answer: SUM(A1:A5)
A formula must begin with =. Without it, SUM(A1:A5) is entered as ordinary text and simply sits in the cell as typed. Excel also accepts a leading + or - and converts it silently to an equals sign, which is why +A1+A2 works - a concession inherited from Lotus 1-2-3, whose users typed the plus out of habit. The commonest reason a formula appears as text is a missing equals sign, and the second is that the cell was formatted as Text before the formula was typed. In the second case adding the equals sign changes nothing: the cell must be reformatted as General and the formula re-entered. A third possibility is that Show Formulas is switched on, with Ctrl + `, which displays every formula instead of its result across the whole sheet. Text entries align left by default and numbers right, which is the quickest visual check.
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