Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2002 and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Turning Off Error Checking.

Turning Off Error Checking

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 19, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2002 and 2003

While you have Excel 2002 or Excel 2003 open, it is constantly checking in the background for potential errors in your worksheets. If an error is located (or, at the least, what Excel thinks is an error), then the cell is "flagged" with a small green triangle in the upper-left corner of the cell.

If you don't want Excel to check for errors, you can turn the feature off by following these steps in Excel 2002 or Excel 2003:

  1. Choose Options from the Tools menu. Excel displays the Options dialog box.
  2. Make sure the Error Checking tab is displayed. (See Figure 1.)

    3. Figure 1. The Error Checking tab of the Options dialog box.

  3. Clear the Enable Background Error Checking check box.
  4. Click OK.

Any existing green triangles should disappear, and Excel stops checking for errors.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2369) applies to Microsoft Excel 2002 and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Turning Off Error Checking.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Identifying Unused Named Ranges

Named ranges can make it easier to refer to ranges of cells in an understandable way. If you want to delete named ranges ...

Discover More

Setting the AutoRecover Directory

Excel, by default, periodically writes information to AutoRecover files that can help protect your data in case Excel is ...

Discover More

Flashing Cells

Want to draw attention to some information in a particular cell? Make the cell flash, on and off. Here's how you can ...

Discover More

Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2013 For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Reducing the Size of the Save As Dialog Box

Dialog boxes are designed to be limited in scope, so that they cover only a portion of your screen. What if a dialog box ...

Discover More

Setting Your Default Directory

You may want to have all your Excel workbooks stored in a specific location on your system. Here's how to set the default ...

Discover More

Disappearing Toolbar Buttons for Macros

One of the important configuration files for Excel is known as the XLB file. You should periodically make backups of this ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 2 + 8?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.