How to Fix Numbers That Don't Add Up | SUM Function Not Working - Returning Zero

So you can't add up numbers in Excel and your SUM function is returning zero. This problem is probably due to the fact that your numbers are stored as text. In this video I explore three quick and easy methods of converting text values to numeric values.

Table of Contents:

00:00 - Introduction
00:29 - Use Text to Columns to fix numbers that won't add up
00:43 - Use add zero - copy & paste special method to fix numbers that won't add up
01:04 - Use the green triangle method to fix numbers that won't add up
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[nikhilpunjabi]

was stuck for a day...saw this video and resolved in seconds... thankyou! Very useful.

[tony_austin]

I found another case that drove me mad until I at last figured it out. I copied a number from a from a web page, any browser (and MS Word is the same) by double clicking and then pasted it into a MS Excel cell - it showed as left-aligned even with cell type = Number and the only method I found that worked was to manually remove the trailing space! There are dozens of solutions to the problem you describe but none of them worked for me when I copied a text number from browser and pasted into Excel.

[gavinvoon]

Omg i have been stuck on this for a whole bloody day! Thank you so much for the help

[vong]

After hours of searching and finding the same useless answers. your first solution fixed my problem. Here is a little gift to say thanks!

[jerrydilger]

Thank you so much! Option 2 PASTE SPECIAL did the trick for my table!

[Ivana]

How many times I have to like this video?! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[konnie]

This is great! I used to create another column and multiply the cell by 1. But these are much better. Thank you 😊

[chewbbm]

Thank you Chester! It too quite a while to try to find the right information. I found your video this morning and it solved the problem.

[angelabarnes]

Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

[PJsAllDayFR]

Thank you for the rescue. Very straightforward presentation!

[elizabethsoliz]

The last option helped me. Thank you! 😊

[IvanCortinas_ES]

Good video Chester! Thank you for explaining these three methods.

[BillPalmer]

Perfect! exactly what I needed to solve this issue. Great video: right to the point,

[williampriesterjr.]

Thank you for your help with the text-to-columns trick there.

[heenriyeow]

you save my life.
thank you so much!

[michaeldecaro]

Extremely helpful! Thank you so much!

[lorigoedken]

Good simple explanation. My problem is that none of those options are showing on my screen. I’m on the latest version of Mac

[ndivmakatu]

i need assistance with my data that is not counting at the bottom right. when i filter with blanks it shows so much information but i cant count it. how do i fix that. your assistance will be helpful

[DanielleTropiano]

None of these options are working for me :/ Once I updated my Excel I lost all normal functions such as this

[jorowley]

Hi Chester, love your following your videos, I am looking into setting up an A to Z document, do you have any info on it?