Change Cell Value Automation - Can I add a formula to the cell?

cjbill8872

It's ridiculous that this functionality doesn't exist already. Prefacing the text with a double-equal (==) would be enough to tell Smartsheet it's a formula and not text. This is what annoys me about Smartsheet… so many simple things that could make it so much more powerful and customizable that continue to be ignored by the developers.

Tony Platts

Smartsheet - For when you absolutely want to spend your time finding a workaround for functionality which should already exist.

auream00

Has anyone found a creative workaround to this challenge? I tried doing a simple find and replace, hoping I could remove the obnoxious ' from cells, but no joy.

Will Findlay

I was so hoping that when I got to the end of this long thread that I wound find a way to avoid the addition of the ' before the formula, but alas, it appears this is still an issue. I'll just spend part of my day deleting apostrophes I guess.

Will Findlay

Hey peeps! I think I found a solution! It requires 2 automations and a date column.

Column:

Insert a date format column in your sheet called "Added Date"

Create Automation 1:

When rows are added or changed, Record the Date in: "Added Date"

Create Automation 2:

When a date is reached > Date field: Added Date
(doesn't matter what time is there, the Date value in Added Date has no time element)
Change cell value …. your cell …. your formula

Wala! It now enters your formula WITHOUT the apostrophe. When the row is updated, it adds the date into the Added Date Field, which then triggers the second automation.

I was tipped off by the note at the bottom of this article:

To avoid creating endless loops, Smartsheet doesn't initiate the action when the trigger cell includes cross-sheet formulas or is linked to other cells. To work around this, use time-based automation or recurrence workflows.