Knowledge Base

XL98: Formula Is Not Recalculated After Paste Special Operation

Article ID: 184261

Article Last Modified on 9/11/2002

APPLIES TO

This article was previously published under Q184261

SYMPTOMS

When you copy values and perform a Paste Special operation, formulas that refer to the pasted values may not be automatically recalculated.

CAUSE

This problem occurs if the following conditions are true:
  • You copy values on a worksheet. -and-

  • You click Values in the Paste Special dialog box. -and-

  • You click Skip Blanks in the Paste Special dialog box. -and-

  • The formula is in the destination range of the pasted values. -and-

  • The formula is an array formula.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, follow these steps:
  1. On the Edit menu, click Replace.
  2. In the Find What box, type =. In the Replace With box, type =. Click Replace All.
The formulas are recalculated correctly after the "=" is replaced in the cells.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

Example

To see an problem of the described in the "Symptoms" section of this article, follow these steps:
  1. Create a new workbook.
  2. Type the following values in Sheet1: 
          A1: a   B1: 1  C1: 10
      A2: b   B2: 2  C2: 20
      A3:     B3:    C3:
      A4: a   B4: 1  C4: 10
      A5: b   B5: 2  C5: 20
  3. Type the following formula in cell B7:

    =SUM(IF(A1:A5="a",B1:B5))

    NOTE: Note that you must enter this formula as an array formula. To do this, type the formula in the formula bar, and then press COMMAND+RETURN to enter the formula.

    The formula returns a value of 2.
  4. Select cells C1:C8, and then click Copy on the Edit menu.
  5. Select cell B1.
  6. Click Paste Special on the Edit menu.
  7. In the Paste Special dialog box, click Values under Paste, and click Skip Blanks. Click OK.
The new values are pasted into column B, but the formula in cell B7 is not recalculated.

Additional query words: XL98 recalc

Keywords: kbbug kbpending KB184261


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