How to Remove Formula in Excel and Keep Text?

Are you trying to remove a formula in an Excel spreadsheet, but keep the results of the formula as text? Removing a formula and preserving the text in an Excel cell can be a tricky task. Fortunately, with a few simple steps, you can quickly and easily remove formulas from your spreadsheet and keep the text intact. In this article, we will provide a step-by-step guide on how to remove formulas in Excel and keep the text.

How to Remove Formulas and Keep Text in Excel?

Excel is a powerful spreadsheet program that can help you quickly analyze data and create reports. However, it can be difficult to work with formulas in Excel, especially if you’re not familiar with them. Fortunately, there are a few simple steps that you can take to remove formulas and keep the text in Excel.

The most common way to remove formulas in Excel is to select the cells that contain formulas and then press the Delete key. This will delete the formulas, but it will also delete the data that was in the cells. To keep the data while removing the formulas, you can copy the data before deleting the formulas. To do this, select the cells that contain the formulas, press Ctrl+C to copy them, then press Delete to remove the formulas. Once the formulas are gone, press Ctrl+V to paste the data back into the cells.

Another way to remove formulas in Excel and keep the text is to use the “Find & Replace” feature. To do this, select the cells that contain the formulas and then press Ctrl+H to open the “Find & Replace” window. In the “Find & Replace” window, type an asterisk (*) in the “Find What” field and leave the “Replace With” field blank. Then press “Replace All” to remove the formulas and keep the text.

Using Paste Special to Remove Formulas in Excel

The “Paste Special” feature can also be used to remove formulas in Excel and keep the text. To do this, select the cells that contain the formulas and then press Ctrl+C to copy them. Then press Ctrl+V to paste the copied cells into a new area. Once the cells are pasted, right-click the new area and select “Paste Special”. In the “Paste Special” window, select “Values” in the “Paste” drop-down menu and then press “OK”. This will paste the data from the original cells into the new area while removing the formulas.

Using the Clear Formats Feature

The “Clear Formats” feature can also be used to remove formulas in Excel and keep the text. To do this, select the cells that contain the formulas and then press Ctrl+1 to open the “Format Cells” window. In the “Format Cells” window, select the “Clear Formats” option and then press “OK”. This will remove the formulas from the selected cells while keeping the text.

Using an Excel Macro to Remove Formulas

If you need to remove formulas from a large number of cells, then you can use an Excel macro to automate the process. To do this, open the “Visual Basic Editor” by pressing Alt+F11. Then type the following code into the “Code” window:

Sub RemoveFormula()

‘Remove formulas from selected cells

Selection.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeFormulas).ClearContents

End Sub

Once the code is typed, press F5 to run the macro. This will remove the formulas from the selected cells while keeping the text.

Using a Third-Party Add-In to Remove Formulas

If you need a more powerful way to remove formulas in Excel, then you can use a third-party add-in such as Kutools for Excel. Kutools for Excel is a powerful set of tools that can help you quickly and easily manage your data in Excel. The “Clear Formulas” feature can be used to quickly remove formulas from selected cells while keeping the text.

Conclusion

Removing formulas in Excel and keeping the text can be a difficult task, but it doesn’t have to be. By following the steps outlined above, you can quickly and easily remove formulas and keep the text in Excel.

Related FAQ

What is a Formula in Excel?

A formula in Excel is a set of instructions that perform calculations on data in a spreadsheet. Formulas can be used to add, subtract, multiply, divide, and more. They can also be used to look up values in a table, perform statistical analysis, and more. Formulas are entered into a cell and can be used to quickly calculate values from other cells in the spreadsheet.

What is the Difference Between a Formula and Text in Excel?

A formula in Excel is a set of instructions that use data from other cells in the spreadsheet to calculate a result. Text, on the other hand, is simply text that is entered into a cell. It does not use data from other cells and is not used to calculate anything.

How to Remove Formulas in Excel?

To remove a formula in Excel, first select the cell or cells that contain the formula. Then, right-click on the cell or cells and select “Clear Contents.” This will remove the formula and any data associated with it. If you want to keep the data but remove the formula, you can select “Clear Formats” instead.

How to Keep Text in Excel After Removing Formulas?

To keep text in Excel after removing formulas, first select the cell or cells that contain the formula and the text. Then, right-click on the cell or cells and select “Copy.” Next, select the cell or cells where you want the text to be copied to and right-click again. Select “Paste Special” and then select “Values” from the list of options. This will copy the text from the cells with the formulas and paste it into the new cells without the formulas.

What Are the Benefits of Removing Formulas in Excel?

Removing formulas in Excel can help to improve the performance of spreadsheets. By removing formulas, you can reduce the number of calculations that need to be done and decrease the amount of memory used. This can help to make the spreadsheet faster and easier to use.

Are There Any Disadvantages to Removing Formulas in Excel?

The main disadvantage to removing formulas in Excel is that it can be time-consuming. If you have a lot of formulas, it can take a while to go through them all and remove them. Additionally, if you are not careful, you can accidentally remove data that you need. It is important to make sure that you are only removing the formula and not the data associated with it.

The ability to remove formulas in Excel and keep the text is essential for any user working with spreadsheets. Knowing how to do this quickly and easily can save you time and effort. With the steps provided above, you can now remove formulas from your cells and keep the text, allowing you to make more accurate calculations and organize your data more efficiently.