cell will not center

[Guest]

Hi.

I have a user with an Excel worksheet. There are multiple rows and columns
and they are all set on center alignment, (center alignment icon on the
toolbar as well as Format Cells --> Horizontal Alignment --> Center.) The
alphabetical characters align correctly but the numerical don't, as they will
only left align. Format Cells --> Number is set to General, so I don't know
why it won't change the alignment.

Other than the worksheet being corrupted, I don't know what could be wrong
with it.

Any suggestions are much appreciated.

Thanks!

Hilary

 

[Dodo]

Hi.

I have a user with an Excel worksheet. There are multiple rows and
columns and they are all set on center alignment, (center alignment
icon on the toolbar as well as Format Cells --> Horizontal Alignment
--> Center.) The alphabetical characters align correctly but the
numerical don't, as they will only left align.

Do you see (in the formula bar) an apostrophe ' before these numbers?

 

[Guest]

Nope. No apostrophe.

Do you see (in the formula bar) an apostrophe ' before these numbers?

 

[Dodo]

Nope. No apostrophe.

The only other thing I can think of giving this result, is when the
"numbers" are followed by spaces. This you can check too in the formula
bar.

 

[Bryan Hessey]

Is the user using Excel for the worksheet, or a viewer of some form?

Can the user, in another cell, put =A1+1 (where A1 is replaced with
address of one of the offending cells)

Does the offending cell show the data to the left and double width, as
it would be if Alt/Enter were used in the cell?

Are there any other clues, such as what happens if you re-enter the
number in the cell? (you can Ctrl/Z to un-enter that)

 

[Dave Peterson]

Is the cell part of a merged area? (maybe it's centered in those cells that are
merged?)

Has the cell been part of multiple cells that were formatted via:
cells|format|alignment tab|horizontal text alignment box:
Center across Selection

I remember having trouble turning that off in earlier versions and keeping
alignment the way I wanted.

Are you sure that the cell is really formatted as general:
select the cell
hit alt-f11 (to get to the VBE)
hit ctrl-g (to see the immediate window)

type this:
?activecell.numberformat

do you get: General
returned?

 

[Guest]

Hi Dave.

No, it's not part of a merged area nor has the cell been part of multiple
cells that were formatted as you described. And finally, I entered
?activecell.numberformat and got "general."

I'm stumped!

Hilary

 

[Guest]

Hi Bryan.

The user is using Excel for the worksheet. When I put =A1+1 (replacing with
the offending cell), it does not add the two numbers. Finally, nothing
different happens when I re-enter a number in the offending cell.

However, cells with alphabetical text do center properly.

Any other thoughts?

Hilary

 

[Guest]

Hi Bryan.

The user is using Excel for the worksheet. When I put =A1+1 (replacing with
the offending cell), it does not add the two numbers. Finally, nothing
different happens when I re-enter a number in the offending cell.

However, cells with alphabetical text do center properly.

Any other thoughts?

Hilary

 

[Guest]

Hi BizMark.

As far as I know, no one has set the cells to comma style.

Hilary

 

[Guest]

Nope, no spaces either.

The only other thing I can think of giving this result, is when the
"numbers" are followed by spaces. This you can check too in the formula
bar.

 

[Dave Peterson]

I don't have another guess.

Sorry.

Hi Dave.

No, it's not part of a merged area nor has the cell been part of multiple
cells that were formatted as you described. And finally, I entered
?activecell.numberformat and got "general."

I'm stumped!

Hilary

 

[Dodo]

Hi Bryan.

The user is using Excel for the worksheet. When I put =A1+1 (replacing
with the offending cell), it does not add the two numbers.

Doesn't that indicate that the offending cell's format is not number?!

What do you get as a result of this formula?

Does this all happen only on the user's puter or also on other machines
when you copy the spreadsheet there?

 

[Dodo]

Nope, no spaces either.

You're not by any chance using a right-to-left capable OS?

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;293467#appliesto

Or macros/VBA running in the background doing things?

Or designed the worksheet in one Excel version and saved/use it in a
different version?

What version is being used?

What else is typical for that particular spreadsheet/work environment?

What does MS have to say about it? ;-)))

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your help. We've decided to just call it a currupted file and copy
and paste into a new worksheet. Thanks though!

Hilary