How to eliminate auto single quote added to formula

In the cell of a worksheet, I am trying to reference another cell on a different worksheet in the same workbook. Excel keeps putting a single quote in front of the equal sign in the formula square. I enter =AllTeam!B2 in the cell and it changes it to '=AllTeam!B2.

What do I need to do to stop this?

Solution 1:

The single quote prefix means Excel is treating the cell as text. Most likely, the cell is formatted as Text rather than General. Select the cell, bring up the formatting on the cell, go to the Number tab, and under the Category list, select General.

You can press CTRL+1 to get to the Format Cells dialog. You don't say what version of Excel, but in modern versions of Excel, it is also available in the Ribbon, on the Home tab, in the Number section.