Calc can either show the formula or the results of the formula.
Most of the time you will want to see the results of the formula, however occasionally, especially when you are troubleshooting, it is useful to display the formula itself for each cell.
To do this, follow the instructions below.
- Be in a Calc file > Tools > Options (The “Options” window appears)
- Click on the + in front of “OpenOffice.org Calc” to open the menu. Click View.
- To display formulas, under “Display” put a checkmark before “Formula”. Click OK.
- To display the results of a formula, do not have a checkmark before “Formula”.

- Click on OK
You should then be able to see the formula for each cell in your spreadsheet.


My name is Stephanie Krishnan and I'm passionate about the way that open source software and its community can help small businesses and individuals with their productivity and lives. One of the biggest arguments I get from business owners, however, is lack of support options. I decided to put together my own support blog to help people be productive at various levels with one of my favourite open source alternatives: OpenOffice.org! I do this through tutorials, downloadable templates and answers to questions from readers!

