Chapter 2

Troubleshooting Formulas

Understanding Error Values in Excel

Excel formula errors fall into three main categories. First, there are the syntax errors, where Excel generates an error message when you press Enter to accept the formula. For example, if you forget a function’s closing parenthesis, Excel displays an error letting you know that the parenthesis is missing. Next, there are the inaccuracy errors, where your worksheet data is wrong, one or more operators or operands in your formula are wrong, or both. Finally, there are the errors where Excel cannot compute a formula result and, instead, displays an error value. Excel has seven different error values — #DIV/0!, #N/A, #NAME?, #NULL!, #NUM!, #REF!, and #VALUE!.

#DIV/0!

The

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