Basic SUM not calculating

  • Thread starter Thread starter mercedes king
  • Start date Start date
M

mercedes king

I was asked to look at a few files the other day and
simple though it seems, I'm stumped!
They consist of columns of numbers (only - no commas, $
signs etc) and the totals are to appear at the bottom of
each column.
I checked the formula and it's correct as far as I see:
=SUM(A1:A20) for example... with the total being in A21
The total shows (from previous entries) but now the
formula has stopped working so if you add another number
or change a number, it doesn't reflect in the total.
I tried re-entering the formula as I know this has worked
in the past but it didn't work this time.
Is the file corrupt? Does it have to be re-created from
scratch? Or is there something else I can do?
Thanks so much.
mercedes
 
Verify that "Automatic" is checked in the Calculation section
Tools|Options|Calculation.

Verify that none of your "numbers" are text (which is ignored by SUM()).
=COUNT(A1:A20)
will give you the number of cells that Excel recognizes as numbers.

Jerry
 
Back
Top