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Excel - Using F9 to Evaluate Part of a Formula - Episode 474

566 views · Published 11 May 2009 · 3:08 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: MrExcel.com · 2009 · Education

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Microsoft Excel Tutorial - Using F9 to Evaluate Part of a Formula - Daily Dose of Excel.

Welcome to the Learn Excel podcast with your host, Bill Jelen. Today, we have a special guest, Dick, who is a star of the Daily Dose of Excel podcast. If you haven't checked it out yet, make sure to visit www.dailydoseofexcel.com for daily Excel tips from Dick and other MVPs. But for now, let's dive into today's tip from Dick on debugging formulas that return errors.

In this episode, Dick shows us a handy trick for identifying which part of a formula is causing an error. He uses the example of a VLOOKUP formula with a MATCH formula nested inside. When the formula returns #N/A, it's not immediately clear if the error is coming from the MATCH or VLOOKUP function. But by highlighting the portion of the formula and using the shortcut [ctrl + =], Dick is able to evaluate that specific part and determine that the MATCH function is returning the correct value. This leaves the VLOOKUP function as the culprit for the error.

But Dick doesn't stop there. He also demonstrates how to quickly identify the specific issue within the VLOOKUP function by highlighting it and using [ctrl + =] again. In this case, he discovers that the lookup value is incorrect, with a capital "O" instead of the intended "0". A simple edit and [Enter] and the formula returns the correct result. This is a great tip for efficiently debugging formulas and saving time in your Excel work.

I hope you found this tip as useful as I did. Don't forget to visit www.dailydoseofexcel.com for more daily Excel tips from Dick and other MVPs. And make sure to tune in next time for another netcast from MrExcel. Thanks for watching!

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Dick Kusleika is our guest podcaster today. Dick is the host of the Daily Dose of Excel. He shows how to troubleshoot formulas by evaluating parts of a formula right in the formula bar. Episode 474 shows you how.

Table of Contents:
(00:00) Introduction to the Learn Excel podcast
(00:16) Host Bill Jelen introduces guest Dick from Daily Dose of Excel
(00:26) Dick shares a tip on debugging formulas that return errors
(01:02) Using [ctrl + =] to evaluate portions of a formula
(01:50) Identifying the source of the error in the formula
(02:37) Clicking Like really helps the algorithm

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