Entering + and - signs in cells

[PLD60]

Is there a way to be able to enter a plus (+) or minus (-) sign in a cell and not have it think it's part of a formula.

I see that if I type (+) and hit enter or tab the (+) gets entered without issue.

If I type (+) and then navigate with an arrow or by clicking in a new cell it thinks I want a reference to that cell and start a formula. I have lots of people using this spreadsheet and I can't control how they will move around the sheet.

[TMS]

Format the cell(s) as Text and you can put what you want in the cell(s).

[PLD60]

TMS,

I tried that and it does not seem to work. Enter the cell (A2) and type just a plus sign then click the right arrow it enters in A2 (+B2).

Enter the cell (A2) and type just a plus sign then click in cell J2 it enters (+J2)

[6StringJazzer]

If you enter a + then are clicking in another cell, but don't want to make a formula, what are you trying to do? What do you want to be in that cell when you're done?

[PLD60]

+ is what I want in the cell

[leelnich]

Hi all - if formatting as text doesn't work, you're probably down to preceding "-" or "+" with an apostrophe: '- or '+. The apostrophe doesn't show, but it tells Excel to treat the remaining characters as a string.

[6StringJazzer]

When I press the + sign then hit Enter, I have a + sign in the cell. Same with - sign. The cells have the default format of General. I still don't understand what the problem is here.
plusminus.JPG

[leelnich]

I still don't understand what the problem is here.

Jeff, if you select a cell without entering the formula bar/Edit mode, you can move to another cell using the arrow keys, or by clicking the new cell. The same behavior while in Edit mode inserts the new cell's address in the formula bar - which the OP is trying to avoid.

[FDibbins]

If you are referencing another cell, using +

Enter the cell (A2) and type just a plus sign then click in cell J2 it enters (+J2)

Then you are creating a formula, and excel will (normally) evaluate that formula to it's answer - and then show that.

A possible option may be to use =TEXT()

=text(if(J2>=0,"+","-")&J2)

[6StringJazzer]

I am getting the idea that the + and - are to be entered by users as some type of flag, and that he doesn't want users getting confused, or entering a formula by accident. One solution would be to use Data Validation and let the user select + or - from a dropdown list. See attached.

This has the benefit of ensuring that the user cannot possibly enter anything other than + or -.

[adagio]

You can add a plus and minus sign into a cell using symbols.
If you go to the Insert tab on the ribbon and then select symbols you will be able to find a + and - in there that will not be recognised as being part of a formula.