Formatting Issues

Fix Excel Cells Showing Gibberish While Formula Bar Shows Correct Value

Muhammad Talha Oct 13, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to resolve an issue where imported data displays as random characters in the cell but appears correctly in the formula bar.

How to Fix Excel Cells Showing Gibberish While Formula Bar Shows Correct Value

Product: Excel for the web, Power Automate
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Importing data into Excel for the web using Power Automate.
Observed behavior: Cells display random letters and numbers (gibberish), but selecting the cell reveals the correct value in the formula bar.

Before you start

Before changing any settings, click on the affected cell and verify that the correct data truly exists in the formula bar to confirm the data isn't corrupted, just improperly formatted.

Solution 1Recommended

Change Cell Formatting to General or Text

Incorrect number formats or specialized custom formats can cause text to appear as scrambled alphanumeric characters.

When data is imported from external sources like Power Automate, Excel may automatically apply an incorrect data type format to the cells. Reverting this to a standard format usually restores the display.

Select the affected cells

Click and drag to highlight the specific cells that are displaying random characters.

Open Number Format options

Navigate to the Home tab and locate the Number Format dropdown menu in the ribbon.

Apply General formatting

Select 'General' or 'Text' from the list. The cells should immediately update to reflect the value shown in the formula bar.

Change Cell Formatting to General or Text

Quick Fix: Using the 'Clear Formats' tool (eraser icon on the Home tab) can also instantly strip away conflicting cell formats.

Solution 2

Change the Font to a Standard Typeface

Sometimes, web fonts fail to load or a symbol font is accidentally applied during the automation process.

Solution 3

Test in a Desktop App or New Workbook

Excel for the web can occasionally experience display glitches that aren't present in the desktop version.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my cell show hashtags (####) instead of gibberish?

Hashtags usually mean the column is simply too narrow to display a number, date, or time. Double-click the boundary line of the column header to automatically expand the width to fit your data.

Can Power Automate encoding cause text display issues in Excel?

Yes, if the source data contains unrecognized characters or incorrect encoding (like improper UTF-8), it may look fine on the backend but render as gibberish in Excel for the web. Pasting the data as plain text or adjusting the data source encoding often resolves this.

How do I clear all formatting from a cell to fix display errors?

Select the problematic cells, go to the Home tab, click the 'Clear' dropdown (usually represented by an eraser icon), and select 'Clear Formats'. This reverts the cell to its default display settings without deleting the data.

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