For example, a cell that displays a date as '' also contains a serial number that is the stored value for the date in the cell. The displayed and printed value depends on how you choose to format and display the stored value. However, you can change the precision of calculations so that Excel uses the displayed value instead of the stored value when it recalculates formulas.īefore you change the precision of calculations, keep in mind the following important points:īy default, Excel calculates stored, not displayed, values Excel stores and calculates with 15 significant digits of precision. Precision is a measure of the degree of accuracy for a calculation.

However, you can control the maximum number of iterations and the amount of acceptable change. Circular references can iterate indefinitely. If a formula refers back to one of its own cells, you must determine how many times the formula should recalculate. Excel cannot automatically calculate a formula that refers to the cell - either directly or indirectly - that contains the formula. Iteration is the repeated recalculation of a worksheet until a specific numeric condition is met. However, you can control when and how Excel recalculates formulas. This is the default behavior when you first open a workbook and when you are editing a workbook. To avoid unnecessary calculations that can waste your time and slow down your computer, Microsoft Excel automatically recalculates formulas only when the cells that the formula depends on have changed. To use formulas efficiently, there are three important considerations that you need to understand:Ĭalculation is the process of computing formulas and then displaying the results as values in the cells that contain the formulas.

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