Make Google Sheets Show Formulas
In large worksheets, finding the cells that contain formulas or functions can be difficult. Learn multiple ways to show formulas in Google Sheets to find the method that best suits your purposes.
How to Show Formulas in Google Sheets Using Shortcut Keys
Remove the guesswork when you need to show formulas in Google Sheets by using a simple shortcut key combination to show all formulas in Google Sheets: Ctrl+` (grave accent). This key combination works as a toggle in Google Sheets, which means you press the same key combination again to hide the formulas when you finish viewing them. The worksheet will display all formulas in the cells that contain them, rather than the formula results.
How to Hide All Formulas in a Sheet
To show the results again for those cells, press the Ctrl+` combination once more.
How to Show Formulas Using the Menu
In addition to the shortcut key above, you can also enable or disable displaying cell formulas in the entire sheet by using the Google Sheets menu by selecting Show Formulas under the View menu.
How to Show Individual Cell Formulas
Rather than viewing all the formulas in the entire spreadsheet, you can view formulas one at a time in Google Sheets with one of the following two techniques.
Double-click the cell containing the formula.Select the cell containing the formula and then press the F9 key on the keyboard to pop up a comment showing the current formula result.
Both of these actions give you insight into the current results of a formula you’re entering. Double-clicking the cell also highlights the source cells so you can see all data in your spreadsheet that affects the formula results. The F9 key lets you see results without switching out of cell edit mode.
How to Hide Formulas in Google Sheets Using Protected Sheets and Ranges
Another option for hiding formulas in Google Sheets is to use worksheet protection, which prevents other users from editing formulas in locked cells. The following steps will let you protect an entire range of cells so that no one can edit the formulas they contain.
