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Formulas Not Recalculating Automatically

Beginner Excel Errors & Fixes Applies to: Windows 7, Windows 10, Windows 11

You change a cell but the formulas depending on it don't update until you do something else.

Before you start: save any open work and note down what you were doing when the problem started — that context helps if you need to search further or ask for help.
  1. Check the calculation mode: Formulas tab > Calculation Options — make sure it's set to "Automatic," not "Manual."
  2. If it's already Automatic, press F9 to force a full recalculation and confirm the values actually change.
  3. Check for a stray apostrophe or leading space before the formula in the cell, which turns it into plain text instead of a live formula — the cell will be left-aligned instead of right-aligned as a giveaway.
  4. Check Formulas > Show Formulas isn't accidentally toggled on, which displays formula text instead of calculated results.
  5. If only one workbook is affected, close and reopen it — a corrupted calculation chain occasionally gets stuck until the file is reloaded.
Still not fixed? Send us the details and we'll help you dig further, or browse related guides in Excel Errors & Fixes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why would a spreadsheet stop calculating automatically?
This usually means Calculation Options got switched to Manual at some point — sometimes accidentally, sometimes because another workbook you had open changed it, since it's an Excel-wide setting rather than per-file.
Will pressing F9 to force a recalculation fix it permanently?
It recalculates that one time only — if Calculation is still set to Manual, formulas will stop updating again on the next change. Switching back to Automatic is the actual permanent fix.

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