You may have accidentally pressed CTRL+` (back quote symbol, the key below escape key in your keyboard) or activated the “Show Formulas” mode in Excel.
The top reason for Excel formula showing as text : So instead lets roll up our sleeves and find out the reason for this mishap. But careful donuts sure sounds like a paradox. Of course, you can be careful when eating donuts. Excel formula showing as text instead of actual result, like this: You check if a donut chunk went in to the key board and some how jammed the ENTER key. You type a formula in a cell, then you press ENTER. Once in a while everyone is bound to come across this problem.