ISFORMULA Function in Excel: Does the Cell Hold a Formula?

⏱ 1 min readUpdated 28 September 2026

InformationLevel: IntermediateAvailable in: Excel 2013+

In this article
  1. Syntax
  2. Examples
  3. Example 1
  4. Related functions

ISFORMULA returns TRUE when a cell contains a formula. Use it in conditional formatting to catch numbers someone typed over a formula column.

Syntax

=ISFORMULA(reference)
Argument What it means
reference A cell.

Examples

Example 1

=NOT(ISFORMULA(D2))

Conditional-formatting rule: highlight overwritten cells.

FORMULATEXT · ISNUMBER

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