XL: Time Values Created by Fill Feature May Be Incorrect (211830)

SYMPTOMS

If you have a formula that is referencing a cell containing a time value, the formula may return an unexpected value. For example, if you have the following data in Sheet1 of your workbook

   A1: 12:00 AM   B1: a   C1: 1:00 AM   D1: =VLOOKUP(C1,A1:B5,2,FALSE)
   A2: 12:30 AM   B2: b
   A3:  1:00 AM   B3: c
   A4:  1:30 AM   B4: d
   A5:  2:00 AM   B5: e

the value returned by the VLOOKUP formula in cell D1 may be #N/A.

CAUSE

You may experience this problem if the times that your formula references were created by the fill feature in Microsoft Excel. In the example in the "Symptoms" section, you would have manually typed the times into cells A1 and A2, but used the fill feature to create the times in cells A3, A4, and A5.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, either manually re-enter your times, or use the Precision as displayed option on the Calculation tab in the Options dialog box.

To use the Precision as displayed option for the active workbook, follow these steps:

On the Tools menu, click Options.
Click the Calculation tab in the Options dialog box.
Click to select the Precision as displayed check box, and then click OK.

The following warning appears:
Data will permanently lose accuracy.
Click OK.

NOTE: When you change the precision of the calculations in a workbook by using the displayed (formatted) values, Microsoft Excel permanently changes any constant values on all worksheets in the workbook. If you later choose to calculate with full precision, the original underlying values cannot be restored.

REFERENCES