Excel: Incorrect Arguments Cause #VALUE! Error Message

• Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 1.x, 2.2, 3.0, 4.0

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Excel, "#VALUE!" is displayed in a cell for a formula when the wrong type of argument or operand has been used (for example, using text where Excel requires a number).

The following are examples of incorrect formulas that produce this error value:

1. The following is an incorrect argument:
   
   The formula =C1+1 cannot be evaluated if cell C1 contains the value "a". In this example, text is used where a number is expected.



2. The following is an incorrect operand:
   
   The formula ="a"+"bc" cannot be evaluated because it does not make sense to add text to text (the addition operator can only act on numbers). The correct formula would use the text operator "&", as in the following:
   
   ="a"&"bc"
   
   This connects the two text strings together, producing the result "abc."

REFERENCES

For more information on error values, see pages 144-149 of the "Microsoft Excel User's Guide 1," version 4.0. If you are using version 3.0, see pages 121-125 in the "Microsoft Excel User's Guide" version 3.0 manual. If you are using Excel 2.20, see pages 235-240 in the "Microsoft Excel Reference" version 2.2 manual.

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Last Reviewed: March 11, 1999