What Is a Formula?

Part of the Fundamentals section of Coddy's Excel journey — lesson 11 of 42.

So far you've typed values into cells, numbers and text that just sit there. A formula is different: it's an instruction that tells Excel to calculate something. Every formula starts with one special character:

=4+3

That = sign is the magic switch. It tells Excel: "don't store what I typed, work it out." Type =4+3 into a cell, press Enter, and the cell shows 7. Type 4+3 without the = and Excel just stores the text 4+3, no math happens.

So where did the formula go? It's still there. A cell with a formula leads a double life: the grid shows the result, while the formula itself hides underneath. Click the cell and look at the formula bar, the long white strip above the grid, and you'll see the original =4+3.

That's the whole trick: values are what you typed, formulas are recipes for a result. In this chapter you'll write your first ones, starting with plain numbers, then pointing them at other cells.

Try it yourself

This lesson doesn't include a code challenge.