MAX function not working

[mlamarre]

I have different columns that produce a value based on an IF statement. I then want to give the max number in a seperate column. When I run a normal MAX function, it returns a value of 0 even though the columns I am pulling the data from have numerical values. So I thought it can't pull from the cell because of the IF formula. So I created another column that simply says =A1 to replicate the result. MAX will still not work. How can I go about identifying the max value?

 

[JoeMo]

Perhaps those "numbers" are text. If you enter =ISNUMBER(A1) what does that formula return?

 

[Joe4]

What is the IF formula? Can you post it?

Are you sure it is a numeric entry, and not a number formatted as a string?

If your numbers are left justified, that often indicates that they are entered as Text and not numbers.

You can also confirm that with the ISNUMBER function, i.e.
if the following function returns FALSE, your value in A1 is not numeric.
=ISNUMBER(A1)

 

[mlamarre]

What is the IF formula? Can you post it?

Are you sure it is a numeric entry, and not a number formatted as a string?

If your numbers are left justified, that often indicates that they are entered as Text and not numbers.

You can also confirm that with the ISNUMBER function, i.e.
if the following function returns FALSE, your value in A1 is not numeric.
=ISNUMBER(A1)

I figured it out. I had "1" instead of just the number so it was returning it as text.

 

[Joe4]

I figured it out. I had "1" instead of just the number so it was returning it as text.

Yep, I figured it was something like that.
Quick tip to remember: Anything enclosed in double-quotes is treated as text. Numbers should not be surrounded in quotes.

 

[mlamarre]

Yep, I figured it was something like that.
Quick tip to remember: Anything enclosed in double-quotes is treated as text. Numbers should not be surrounded in quotes.

Lesson learned!