The simplest way to remove a formula
To delete a formula in Excel, click the cell containing it, then press Delete. The formula disappears and the cell becomes empty. That is the fastest route when you want the cell blank.
If you want to keep the result the formula produced — the number it calculated — you need a different approach. Pressing Delete removes both the formula and its result. Instead, copy the cell, then use Paste Special to paste only the value back into the same cell. This replaces the formula with the number it produced.
The reason this matters: once you delete a formula, you cannot undo the calculation. If you later realize you need that formula back, you have to rebuild it from memory or from your notes. Pasting the value first protects you by keeping the answer in place while removing the formula.
Key Takeaways
- Press Delete on a cell to remove its formula completely, leaving the cell empty.
- To keep the number a formula produced while removing the formula itself, copy the cell, then use Paste Special and choose Values Only.
- Deleting a formula is permanent — Excel does not store a record of what formula was there, so you cannot recover it later.
- If you delete a formula that other cells depend on, those cells will show #REF! error instead of their previous results.
- You can delete multiple formulas at once by selecting all the cells you want to clear, then pressing Delete.
Keeping the result while removing the formula
This is the most common reason someone wants to delete a formula. You have a cell that calculates a total, or a percentage, or a lookup result — and you want to lock that number in place so it does not change if the source data changes.
First, click the cell with the formula. Then press Ctrl+C (or Cmd+C on Mac) to copy it. Next, right-click the same cell and choose Paste Special. A dialog box opens. Click the Values Only button, then click OK. The formula is now gone, and only the number remains.
Why this works: Paste Special lets you paste only certain parts of what you copied. When you choose Values Only, Excel pastes just the result — the number — not the instructions that produced it. The formula disappears because you have replaced it with its answer.
You can also reach Paste Special by pressing Ctrl+Shift+V instead of right-clicking. Both paths lead to the same dialog.
Deleting formulas that other cells depend on
If you delete a formula that other cells reference, those cells will display #REF! error. This happens because the cell they were looking for no longer exists or no longer contains what they expected.
Before you delete a formula, check whether any other cells use it. Click the cell with the formula, then look at the formula bar at the top — it shows the formula itself. If other cells reference this one, you will usually see them highlighted with colored borders when you click it. Excel does this automatically to show you the connections.
If you see that other cells depend on this formula, you have two choices: delete the formula and fix the cells that reference it, or leave the formula in place and just hide the column it sits in. Hiding is faster if you do not want to see the formula but need other cells to keep using it.
Clearing multiple formulas at once
If you have many cells with formulas you want to remove, you can delete them all together instead of one at a time. Click the first cell, then hold Shift and click the last cell in the range you want to clear. All cells between them are now selected. Press Delete, and every formula in that selection disappears.
You can also select cells that are not next to each other. Click the first cell, then hold Ctrl (or Cmd on Mac) and click each additional cell you want to clear. When you press Delete, only those specific cells are cleared.
If you want to keep the values from these formulas before deleting them, select the entire range first, copy it, then use Paste Special with Values Only on the same range. This converts all the formulas to numbers at once, then you can delete the formulas if you want.
Using Find and Replace to delete specific formulas
When you have a spreadsheet with hundreds of cells and you want to delete only formulas that match a certain pattern, Find and Replace is faster than clicking each one.
Press Ctrl+H (or Cmd+H on Mac) to open Find and Replace. In the Find field, type the start of the formula you want to remove — for example, =SUM if you want to delete all SUM formulas. Leave the Replace field empty. Click Replace All, and every formula starting with =SUM disappears.
Be careful with this approach: if you search for something too general, you might delete formulas you wanted to keep. For example, searching for = will find every formula in the sheet because every formula starts with =. Test on a copy of your spreadsheet first if you are unsure.
Undoing a deletion you did not mean to make
If you delete a formula by accident, press Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac) when ready. This undoes the deletion and brings the formula back. You can undo multiple times to go back several steps if needed.
Undo only works if you have not closed the file. Once you close Excel without saving, the deletion is permanent and cannot be recovered. If you realize the mistake after closing, you can open the file again — Excel will ask whether you want to recover unsaved changes. Click Yes to restore the file to the state it was in before you closed it.
This is why saving your work regularly matters. If you save after deleting a formula, undo will no longer reach back to before the deletion. You will need to rebuild the formula by hand or restore from a backup.
Removing formulas from a filtered or sorted list
If your spreadsheet is filtered — showing only certain rows — and you delete formulas, the deletion affects only the visible cells, not the hidden ones. This can create confusion because you might think you deleted something that is still there in a hidden row.
Before you delete formulas from a filtered list, remove the filter first so you see all rows. Click the Data menu, then click Clear Filter. Now when you delete, you are deleting from the entire sheet, not just the visible portion. After you are done, you can reapply the filter if you need it.
The same caution applies to sorted data. Sorting does not hide rows the way filtering does, but it does rearrange them. If you are deleting formulas from a sorted range, make sure you are deleting the right cells — the ones you intend to clear, not cells that happen to be in the same position before sorting.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between deleting a formula and clearing a cell?
Deleting and clearing mean the same thing in Excel — both remove the formula and leave the cell empty. Some people use "clear" to mean removing just the contents while keeping formatting, but pressing Delete does both at once. If you want to keep the cell's color or borders but remove only the formula, right-click and choose Clear Contents instead of pressing Delete.
Can I delete a formula but keep it in another cell?
Yes. Copy the cell with the formula first, then click a different empty cell and paste it. Now you have the formula in two places. Then go back to the original cell and delete it. This way you have moved the formula rather than losing it.
Why does my spreadsheet show #REF! after I deleted a formula?
Another cell was referencing the formula you deleted. When you removed it, that cell lost the data it was looking for. You can fix this by pressing Ctrl+Z to undo the deletion, or by editing the cell showing #REF! to point to a different cell that contains the data it needs.
If I delete a formula, can I see what it was?
No. Excel does not keep a history of deleted formulas. Once you press Delete and the formula is gone, there is no way to see what it contained unless you remember it or have notes. This is why some people take a screenshot or write down important formulas before deleting them.
Does deleting a formula affect other sheets in the same workbook?
Only if those other sheets reference the cell you deleted. If Sheet2 has a formula that points to a cell in Sheet1, and you delete that cell in Sheet1, the formula in Sheet2 will show #REF! error. Formulas that do not reference the deleted cell are not affected.