public static void getFormulaCellValue(){ FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream("c:/temp/test.xls"); Workbook wb = new HSSFWorkbook(fis); //or new XSSFWorkbook("c:/temp/test.xls") Sheet sheet = wb.getSheetAt(0); FormulaEvaluator evaluator = wb.getCreationHelper().createFormulaEvaluator(); Row row = sheet.getRow(1); Cell cell = row.getCell(1); CellValue cellValue = evaluator.evaluate(cell); switch (cellValue.getCellType()) { case Cell.CELL_TYPE_BOOLEAN: System.out.println(cellValue.getBooleanValue()); break; case Cell.CELL_TYPE_NUMERIC: System.out.println(cellValue.getNumberValue()); break; case Cell.CELL_TYPE_STRING: System.out.println(cellValue.getStringValue()); break; case Cell.CELL_TYPE_BLANK: break; case Cell.CELL_TYPE_ERROR: break; } }