Final answer:
Excel might show a formula instead of a value if the cell is formatted as text, the 'Show Formulas' mode is turned on, or there's a leading apostrophe before the formula. Correcting the cell format, toggling the 'Show Formulas' button, or removing the apostrophe can resolve the issue.
Step-by-step explanation:
There are a few reasons why Excel might show a formula instead of a value. One common reason is that the cell format has been set to 'Text' instead of a numerical or General format. When a cell is formatted as text, Excel will treat the formula as a string of text and display it as is, rather than calculating its value.
Another possibility is that the show formulas mode is turned on. You can check this by looking for the 'Show Formulas' button in the Formulas tab. If it's selected, Excel will display formulas in the cells instead of their calculated values. To fix this, you simply click the 'Show Formulas' button to turn it off.
Finally, there may be a leading apostrophe before the formula. This would also cause Excel to treat the formula as text. Removing the apostrophe should resolve the issue and allow Excel to calculate and show the value again.