Microsoft® Excel® 2010 Formulas & Functions Inside Out

ERROR.TYPE()

Syntax. ERROR.TYPE(error_value)

Definition. This function returns a number corresponding to an error value in Excel. If no error exists in the cell or in the calculation, the function returns the #N/A error.

Arguments

• error_value (required). The error value (either the actual error value in a cell or the result of a calculation) for which you want to find the error code

Background. You can use this function in an IF() function to replace the error value with a string explaining the error. To do this, you need to be familiar with the relationship between error values and return values (see Table 11-4).

Table 11-4. Error Values and Results of the ERROR.TYPE Function

Error Value	Return Value
#NULL!	1
#DIV/0!	2
#VALUE!	3
#REF!	4
#NAME?	5
#NUM! ...