Forum Discussion
Goal seek not giving the answer
HansVogelaar Hey hans, thx for quick response. I was not able to attach a picture or a file, but I have uploaded it to paste.pics where it is public. I just made a simple equation example, where you can see it doesn't show the solution, only that it has found one.
https://paste.pics/9874fb69b0ed7fb348eb55428a1d8e8f
Thx for your help
Thanks for sending the workbook in a private message.
Goal Seek works correctly in Excel for Windows, although it takes a very long time to solve this simple problem.
I will attach the workbook here. I hope that someone else with a Mac will see it and test it.
I am also having an issue with goal seek. Not sure if you'd prefer this be a new thread, but when I try running it, it doesn't seem to start. I just get a message that a solution was found yet current value stays where it was before starting goal seek. I thought it could have been related to the option of allowing curricular reference errors (set the iterations allowed to 2). But after turning that off, the error remained. Also tried restarting Excel.
(tried to add the screenshot, but the image insertion didn't work)
Yes, for future reference, new problems should be presented in new threads, even if they seem similar to an older discussion. Often, the root cause is different.
You should enable Iterative Calculation only if you intentionally use "circular" formulas. Contrary to MSFT docs, do not enable IC just to hide circ ref. Instead, fix the circ refs. Circ refs can cause Excel to abort recalc cycles arbitrary, resulting in inconsistent cell values and Excel errors (e.g. #VALUE and #NAME). We know that cause misbehavior of the Evaluate Formula feature. I can imagine that it causes similar misbehavior of Goal Seek.
That said, Goal Seek misbehavior like this has often been traced to an add-in (not always the same one).
If possible, start Excel in "safe mode" to see if the problem goes away. Note: this is for troubleshooting purposes only; it is not a solution, even if it might work.
On a PC, first close all windows to avoid confusion. Then I press and hold Ctrl while I click an Excel program icon (not a file icon). Continue pressing Ctrl until a confirmation pop-up appears on the desktop. Now, you can release Ctrl and click Yes. In Excel, the window title should include the words "safe mode". In that instance of Excel, open the offending file by clicking File>Open or Recent. Then try to use Goal Seek.
Does Goal Seek work in "safe mode"?
Thanks for the reply. Goal seek worked with a simple addition formula in safe mode.
Checking on the add-ins, there are 10 available, but they are in the inactive list so there are none being used (other 3 lists are empty).
Something else weird I resolved yesterday (not sure if there is any relationship between the issues). My paste special options were missing. Oddly enough, turning off "Show Paste Options button when content is pasted" resolved that issue & allowed paste special options to return.
You can upload a screenshot or a sample workbook to a cloud service such as OneDrive, Google Drive or Dropbox, and post a link to it in a reply.
Or if you prefer, send me a private message; you should be able to attach a picture and/or workbook.
