How to Remove Formula And Keep Value in Google Sheets

Last updated: August 25, 2026.

Quick answer: To remove a formula in Google Sheets but keep its result, select the cells, press Ctrl + C, then press Ctrl + Shift + V to paste values only over the same range. The cells keep their numbers and the formula bar goes blank. The menu route is Edit > Paste special > Paste values only.

On this page

• Which method should you use?
• Method 1: the Edit menu
• Method 2: the keyboard shortcut
• Method 3: the right-click menu
• How do you remove formulas from a whole column or the whole sheet?
• ARRAYFORMULA, IMPORTRANGE, and VLOOKUP
• How do you clear the data but keep the formulas?
• How do you turn off or hide formulas without deleting them?
• Why is it not working?
• Frequently asked questions

Which method should you use?

Removing a formula, converting a formula to a value, and pasting values only are three names for the same operation in Google Sheets. There is no delete-formula-keep-result button. What you do instead is copy the cells and paste their values back over themselves, which overwrites the formulas with their own output.

Rule to remember: paste the values back over the same cells you copied. Pasting somewhere else leaves the original formulas alive.

Read Also: How to Change Currency in Google Sheets

Method 1: the Edit menu

1. Start with a range that contains formulas, for example B2:B11.
2. Select all the cells with formulas, then go to Edit > Copy.

3. With the same cells still selected, go to Edit > Paste special > Paste values only.

4. Click any cell in column B. The value is still there, but the formula bar is now empty, which means the formula is gone.

Google's own documentation lists this option under paste special in a spreadsheet, described as pasting only the text from the original range of cells.

Read Also: How to Remove Duplicates in Google Sheets Without Using Apps Script

Method 2: the keyboard shortcut

This is the one to learn. Two keystrokes, no menus.

1. Select the cells containing formulas.

2. Press Ctrl + C to copy.

3. Press Ctrl + Shift + V. The cells in column B keep their values and no longer contain formulas.

On a Mac the shortcut is Cmd + Shift + V. Google lists Paste values only as Ctrl + Shift + V for Windows and Chrome OS and Cmd + Shift + V for Mac in its official Google Sheets keyboard shortcuts reference.

Rule to remember: Ctrl + C then Ctrl + Shift + V is the whole job. Everything else on this page is a variation on it.

Method 3: the right-click menu

1. Select the cells that contain formulas.

2. Right-click the selection and choose Copy.

3. Right-click again, then choose Paste special > Paste values only.

4. The cells in column B keep their values and the formulas are gone.

If the right-click route does nothing, that is not your mistake. Google notes that for security reasons most browsers block web apps from reaching the system clipboard through menus. Use the keyboard shortcut instead, which is not affected.

How do you remove formulas from a whole column or the whole sheet?

The procedure does not change, only the selection does.

A whole column.

1. Click the column letter to select the entire column, or click the first cell and press Ctrl + Shift + Down to select down to the end of the data.
2. Press Ctrl + C, then Ctrl + Shift + V.

Note what Ctrl + Shift + Down actually does. It selects to the bottom of the range. It does not remove anything on its own, and it is only a convenience for step 1.

The whole sheet.

1. Press Ctrl + A, or click the blank corner box above row 1 and left of column A.
2. Press Ctrl + C, then Ctrl + Shift + V.

Do this on a copy of the file, not the original. Once every formula in a sheet is flattened to values there is nothing left to recalculate, and beyond the undo history it cannot be reversed. Make a copy first with File > Make a copy.

Rule to remember: flattening a whole sheet is one-way. Duplicate the file before you do it, not after.

ARRAYFORMULA, IMPORTRANGE, and VLOOKUP

Most formulas need no special handling. VLOOKUP, QUERY, SUMIF, and the rest all convert with the same copy and paste values only. Three cases behave differently and are worth knowing before you start.

• ARRAYFORMULA. A single formula in one cell produces results across a whole range. You cannot convert part of that output. Select the entire range the formula fills, including the cell holding the formula itself, then copy and paste values only over all of it. Converting only some of the cells leaves the original formula trying to write into cells you have just overwritten.
• IMPORTRANGE. Converting to values deliberately breaks the live connection to the source spreadsheet. That is usually the whole point, since it freezes a snapshot that will not change when someone edits the other file. Just be certain you want the link broken, because rebuilding it means re-authorising access.
• VLOOKUP and other lookups. Nothing special is required. Once converted, the value stays put even if the lookup table is deleted, which is exactly why people convert lookups before sharing a file.

Rule to remember: with ARRAYFORMULA, select everything the formula produces, not just the cell it lives in.

How do you clear the data but keep the formulas?

This is the opposite job, and a lot of people arrive looking for it: you want to reuse a template, wiping last month's inputs while leaving every calculation intact.

Google Sheets has no single command for it. There is no equivalent of selecting constants only. Here are the three approaches that work.

1. Select only the input cells and press Delete.

Fine when inputs and formulas sit in separate columns or blocks. Hold Ctrl and click to add non-adjacent ranges to the selection, then press Delete. Delete clears contents without touching formatting or data validation.

2. Use ISFORMULA to find them.

When inputs and formulas are mixed together, let the sheet identify them for you.

1. In a spare column, enter =ISFORMULA(A2) and fill it down beside your data.
2. The result is TRUE for cells holding a formula and FALSE for typed values.
3. Turn on a filter, filter that helper column to FALSE, and you are looking only at the typed entries.
4. Select the visible input cells, press Delete, then remove the filter and the helper column.

3. Design for it next time.

The reliable fix is structural: keep every input in one dedicated block or on its own tab, and have formulas reference it. Clearing the file then becomes selecting one range and pressing Delete, with no chance of destroying a calculation by accident.

Rule to remember: pressing Delete clears the contents of a cell. It never converts a formula, and it never removes formatting.

How do you turn off or hide formulas without deleting them?

Three different requests hide behind this, and they have three different answers.

• To see the formulas instead of their results, switch on the show-formulas view. Google documents this shortcut as Ctrl + ~ (Ctrl plus tilde). It is a display toggle only. Nothing is changed, and pressing it again switches back.
• To stop a formula recalculating, there is no manual calculation mode in Google Sheets the way there is in Excel. Under File > Settings > Calculation you can only change how often volatile functions such as NOW and TODAY refresh. If you truly need a number to stop moving, convert it to a value.
• To stop other people seeing or editing a formula, use protection rather than deletion. Select the range, right-click, and protect it so only chosen editors can change it. Converting to values also hides the formula, but you lose the calculation permanently.

Rule to remember: hiding a formula and removing a formula are different actions. Only one of them is reversible.

Why is it not working?

Final thoughts

Removing a formula while keeping its value comes down to one habit: copy the cells, then paste their values back over the same cells. Ctrl + C, Ctrl + Shift + V. Every other route on this page reaches the same place through a menu.

The one thing worth being careful about is that this is permanent. Take a copy of the file before flattening anything you might need to recalculate later.

We also have a guide to removing formulas in Excel while keeping the data, which uses a different set of menus.

You can visit our home page for more step-by-step guides, or browse the full library of Google Sheets tutorials.

Read Also: How To Search in Google Sheets?

Frequently asked questions

How do you remove a formula in Google Sheets but keep the value?

Select the cells, press Ctrl + C, then press Ctrl + Shift + V to paste values only over the same range. The numbers stay and the formula bar goes blank. The menu route is Edit, then Paste special, then Paste values only.

What is the keyboard shortcut to remove formulas in Google Sheets?

Ctrl + C followed by Ctrl + Shift + V on Windows and Chrome OS, or Cmd + C followed by Cmd + Shift + V on Mac. Ctrl + Shift + V is the paste values only shortcut. Ctrl + Shift + Down only selects cells down to the end of the data, it does not remove anything.

How do you convert a formula to a value in Google Sheets?

It is the same operation as removing the formula. Copy the cells and paste values only back over them, either with Ctrl + Shift + V or through Edit, Paste special, Paste values only. Converting to a value and removing the formula are two names for one action.

How do you copy a formula so one cell reference does not change?

Make that reference absolute by putting dollar signs in front of the column letter and the row number, as in $B$1. A plain copy and paste shifts every relative reference to match the new position, so $B$1 is what stops one cell from moving.

How do you clear a Google Sheet but keep the formulas?

Select only the cells that hold typed entries and press Delete, which clears contents without touching formulas or formatting. When inputs and formulas are mixed together, add a helper column with ISFORMULA, filter it to FALSE to isolate the typed values, and delete those.

How do you remove all formulas from a whole Google Sheet at once?

Press Ctrl + A to select the entire sheet, then Ctrl + C and Ctrl + Shift + V. Make a copy of the file first with File, Make a copy, because once every formula is flattened to a value there is nothing left to recalculate.

Can you get a formula back after removing it?

Only by undoing. Press Ctrl + Z straight away, or open File, Version history, See version history and restore an earlier version. Once the file has been closed and the undo history is gone, the formula cannot be recovered from the cell.

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