Puts formula in cell instead of result

Hi all,,,, I don't know what is wrong with my spreadsheet but I put VLOOKUP(E17,B1:C16,2,1) into the cell E20 and instead of putting the result in E20 it puts the formula.
I have treble checked and the data is correct and the cells formatting are correct, can someone help please,
it has occoured elsewhere too, and I wonder if it has anything to do with me deleting cols and then replacing them,
Len

Yes I did put the =
Len

donnylad said:

...instead of putting the result in E20 it puts the formula.

There's an Excel display option in 'Advanced' that will do that, check your settings.

Sometime when a cell does not produce the correct solution with a formula, there may be a hidden entry/format there that would mess with it. Right click the cell and choose "clear contents" then try the formula again. Is this the only cell doing this, or are others showing the same problem??

I looked in advanced and it is already switched off, also other cells are doing the same thing.
Len

You have formatted the Cell(s) as text. Delete the contents and change format to General and enter again.

Or change the Cell to general format and re-enter from the formula bar.