Microsoft Excel 
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COMMON ERROR MESSAGES 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
Microsoft Excel has some in-built messages that 
can assist you when something goes wrong with 
a formula. These messages appear in the cell 
that contains the formula, and sometimes also 
other formula cells that depend upon it. The 
messages are always prefixed with a hash sign (#) 
and appear with a code. The more common error 
messages are listed below. 
A Line of Hash (#) Signs 
Sometimes referred to as “tramlines”, a line of hash 
signs usually occurs because a column is not wide 
enough to display the numbers in the cell or 
formula. Widening the column will correct this 
problem – you can drag the column heading until 
the value in the cell appears as it should. 
#DIV/0! 
This message means you are trying to divide a value by 
zero – this is mathematically impossible. In the example 
at the left we are trying to find the average number of 
persons per household. All is fine as long as there is a 
value greater than zero in cell B3 (Houses). As soon as 
we change this to a zero an error message appears in 
the formula cell (B5). 
To prevent the error you will need to enter a value 
greater than zero into cell B3, the divisor cell. 
#VALUE! 
In this message Excel is advising that something in the 
formula is not a value and therefore a calculation can’t be 
made. 
A close examination of the example at the left shows cell 
B3 contains the word “three”. Therefore the formula in 
cell B5 is trying to divide 192,664 (in cell B2) with a word, 
which doesn’t make sense. 
To fix the error, a value (a number) will need to be 
entered in cell B3. 
#NAME? 
This message appears when text is found in a 
formula that can’t be matched to either a 
legitimate function or range name. 
In the example to the left, the formula has been 
entered as =SOME(B3:B7) – there is no such 
function as SOME, and presumably the author 
should have typed =SUM(B3:B7).