copying/pasting accurately from a Word table (carriage returns)

[Guest3731]

Hi - could really use a hand here, ladies & gentlemen:

I've got a very large Word document containing one very large table of
information. The table is 7 columns wide by god-knows how many rows.
Each cell of the table contains alphanumeric data, and from 0-4
carriage returns. I'd like to manipulate the data in this table in
Excel.

The problem is that when I copy and paste this table into Excel, the
Word table cells that contained multiple carriage returns are
converted into vertically-stacked groups of Excel cells, one per
carriage return.

The Word table cells that didn't contain carriage returns, however,
are converted into *vertically merged* blocks of cells that are
exactly as high as the vertically-stacked groups on that row.

So the end product of converting one row of Word cells is a
horizontally-laid-out grouping of vertically-stacked Excel cells -
each "column-block" of Excel cells is as high as its neighbor, such
that the information *looks* the same as it did in Word. But it would
take me days to go through and cut & paste the information that has
been spread out into multiple cells, then "unmerging" the merged
cells, then deleting the blank cells I just created.

Is it perhaps possible to avoid this by CTRL-H'ing the carriage
returns into something else? Or using a special cut-n-paste or "data
import" technique?

Much obliged.

 

[Ken Johnson]

Hi - could really use a hand here, ladies & gentlemen:

I've got a very large Word document containing one very large table of
information. The table is 7 columns wide by god-knows how many rows.
Each cell of the table contains alphanumeric data, and from 0-4
carriage returns. I'd like to manipulate the data in this table in
Excel.

The problem is that when I copy and paste this table into Excel, the
Word table cells that contained multiple carriage returns are
converted into vertically-stacked groups of Excel cells, one per
carriage return.

The Word table cells that didn't contain carriage returns, however,
are converted into *vertically merged* blocks of cells that are
exactly as high as the vertically-stacked groups on that row.

So the end product of converting one row of Word cells is a
horizontally-laid-out grouping of vertically-stacked Excel cells -
each "column-block" of Excel cells is as high as its neighbor, such
that the information *looks* the same as it did in Word. But it would
take me days to go through and cut & paste the information that has
been spread out into multiple cells, then "unmerging" the merged
cells, then deleting the blank cells I just created.

Is it perhaps possible to avoid this by CTRL-H'ing the carriage
returns into something else? Or using a special cut-n-paste or "data
import" technique?

Much obliged.

What if in Word you select the table then go Edit|Replace
Find what: ^p
Replace with: type a space
then click Replace all

then copy/paste into Excel.

Try it out on a back up copy of the table first.

Ken Johnson