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How to convert text strings to formulas in Excel?

If there are lots of text strings as =A1 + B1 format which you need to convert these text strings to real formulas and calculate their values in your worksheet, unfortunately, there is no direct method to solve it in Excel. But, here I can talk about some interesting tricks for you.

Convert text strings to formulas with User Defined Function

Convert text strings to formulas with Kutools for Excel

arrow blue right bubble Convert text strings to formulas with User Defined Function

The following short VBA code can help you to deal with the problem that convert text to formula as these steps:

1. Hold down the ALT + F11 keys, and it opens the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.

2. Click Insert > Module, and paste the following code in the Module Window.

VBA code: Convert text strings to formulas

Function Eval(Ref As String)
Application.Volatile
Eval = Evaluate(Ref)
End Function

3. Save this code and return to your worksheet, enter this formula =Eval(C1) into a blank cell (C1 contains the text string cell which you want to convert to formula), see screenshot:

doc-convert-text--to-formula1

4. Then press Enter key, and select cell D1, drag the fill handle to the range which you want to apply this formula. See screenshot:

doc-convert-text--to-formula1

arrow blue right bubble Convert text strings to formulas with Kutools for Excel

If you don’t like use the above code, you can apply Kutools for Excel’s Convert Text to Formula feature, with its help, you can also convert text strings to formulas at once.

Kutools for Excel includes more than 300 handy Excel tools. Free to try with no limitation in 30 days. Get it Now.

After installing Kutools for Excel, please do as this:

1. Select the text strings that you want to convert.

2. Click Kutools > Content Converter > Convert Text to Formula, see screenshot:

doc-convert-text--to-formula1

3. And all your selected text strings have been converted to real formulas and get their values as well. See screenshots:

doc-convert-text--to-formula4 -2 doc-convert-text--to-formula5

To know more about this Convert Text to Formula feature.

Related article:

How to convert formula to text string in Excel?

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Comments (16)
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Jae
Jae
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I am finding this to be not working properly. As everyone else has said (and I could not see a satisfactory solution), it does not work when trying to pull in stuff from other worksheets in the same workbook. It's frustrating and I am having to give up on this and find another solution. So the Google search continues!
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Carlos
Carlos
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Thank you very much!!! GREAT IDEA!!!
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Ali
Ali
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Hello
For the first defined function way, I have a problem.
when the resources for concatenate function are in another worksheet, Eval function works properly when that resource worksheet is open, But immediately when I close that resource worksheet, Eval function Not working. How I can change the codes for eval function to use closed resource worksheets?
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willyfred
willyfred
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Hello Johnny
about Hussein’s issue, if the external workbook is closed INDIRECT gives #REF! error. Do you have other solution?
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Hasan nasralla
Hasan nasralla     willyfred
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use indirect only works with open workbooks.


solution is to use indirect.ext from morefunc.


regards,
Hasan nasralla
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Johnny
Johnny
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Hi Hussein,

Just use the INDIRECT function in Excel. Does the same thing.
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Hussein
Hussein
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Greetings, the above code works perfectly inside the same workbook across different sheets, but in case i have a cell reference to an external workbook it returns #VALUE!. the formulas were calculating normally earlier.
Example for the formula can't be evaluated correctly: IFERROR(INDEX('[Tracking-OSP Outside Riyadh-07-09-2017.xlsx]Tracking WO'!$U$3:$U$19000,MATCH(A3&"",'[Tracking-OSP Outside Riyadh-07-09-2017.xlsx]Tracking WO'!$B$3:$B$19000,0)),INDEX('[Tracking-OSP Outside Riyadh-07-09-2017.xlsx]Tracking WO'!$U$3:$U$19000,MATCH(value(A3),'[Tracking-OSP Outside Riyadh-07-09-2017.xlsx]Tracking WO'!$B$3:$B$19000,0))).
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Tamarind
Tamarind
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The replace = with = works, so relieved. Thank you to whoever discovered and shared this nugget of Excel gold.
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Rich
Rich
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To clarify my other comment, I mass replaced the "=" character with the same "=" character, and that made the strings turn into formulas.
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Frans
Frans     Rich
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Hi Rich,
I'm just reading you comment on turning text into a formula. It seems that the function as mentioned above is not working. I'm not really a programmer but what i did is converting a formula into a text and in the text i have to replace a few values and combine it again in one text but now i need to convert it back into a formula. Could you give me a tip.
Regards
Frans
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Rich
Rich
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I don't know if this would always work, but I had a number of cells that had formulas stored as text strings. I did a full worksheet find replace on the "=" character, and all of my strings converted to formulas with that one action.
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Srini
Srini
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Thank you. Works well with the user defined function... I could do what I could not using the default functions of INDIRECT, ADDRESS et al provided. It fell short when I had a range to be input.
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