Your conditional formatting rules change unexpectedly when you copy them to new cells. This happens because the cell references in your formula are relative by default. When you copy a rule, Excel adjusts these references relative to the new location. This article explains why this shifting occurs and shows you how to lock your references … Read more
Your VLOOKUP formula returns #N/A even though you can see the lookup value in your table. This common error often occurs because of hidden spaces in your data. These spaces can be leading, trailing, or extra spaces between words that are not visible at a glance. This article explains why these spaces break VLOOKUP and … Read more
The #NULL! error appears in Excel when you use an incorrect range operator. This happens most often when a space character is typed between cell references instead of a proper operator like a colon or comma. The error indicates Excel cannot interpret the formula’s intended calculation. This article explains why the error occurs and provides … Read more
You see a #FIELD! error in your Excel worksheet where you expected to see data. This error occurs when a formula references a specific field from a linked data type, but that field cannot be found. Linked data types connect your spreadsheet to an online source, and changes to that source can break your references. … Read more
You open an Excel workbook and see strange prefixes like _xlfn. before function names. This happens when a file uses newer functions but is opened in an older Excel version. The _xlfn. prefix indicates a compatibility error. This article explains why this occurs and how to fix it. Key Takeaways: Fixing the _xlfn. Prefix Error … Read more
Your VLOOKUP formula is returning a zero when the source cell is empty. This happens because Excel treats blank cells as having a value of zero in certain contexts. The result is a spreadsheet filled with zeros that should be visually empty. This behavior is a default calculation rule in Excel. The article explains why … Read more
You may find that your COUNTIF formula returns zero or an error when trying to count cells containing long text strings. This happens because the COUNTIF function has a hidden limitation. The function cannot correctly evaluate criteria that are longer than 255 characters. This article explains this specific technical limit and provides several reliable methods … Read more
You press the F4 key in Excel to lock a cell reference, but nothing happens. The dollar signs for an absolute reference do not appear. This problem is almost always caused by a keyboard setting or a conflict with another program. This article explains the specific causes and provides the steps to restore the F4 … Read more
You try to subtract one date from another in Excel but get a #NUM! error instead of the expected number of days. This error occurs when Excel cannot perform the calculation due to an invalid date format or a calculation that results in a negative date. This article explains why the #NUM! error appears during … Read more
Your Excel SUMIFS formula is returning an incorrect total, often zero or a number that seems too high or low. This usually happens when the ranges you specify for the sum and the criteria are different sizes. The formula cannot match data correctly when the ranges do not align. This article explains why this mismatch … Read more