How do I expand the amount of text I can put in a cell?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

I am entering text into a cell & can see it in the formula bar up top, but
it's giving me the #### in the cell that states it's too big. How can I get
it to show my text?
 
Sarah -

Put your cursor between the column you want to expand, and the column to the
right. When you see a four sided arrow, click and drag it to the right. You
may need to also Format, Cell, Alignment and click on Wrap Text.

Hope this helps,
Carole O
 
Thanks Carole - we tried that but it still won't fit. I think we may have to
cut down on our text or move to another cell.
 
Hover your pointer over the very top cell (These are
usually A, B, C..etc) When you see a shape similar to a
cross, you can either double click or hold your left mouse
button down and adjust the cells in that column.
 
Try formatting your cell as General--I bet it's formatted as Text.

Format|Cells|Number Tab|General
 
Hi Sarah-

The symbols you see only appear if there is a formatted value in the cell
and the column is not wide enough to display the entire amount. (Cells that
contain text do not display these symbols regardless of how much text they
contain.)

The three most common ways to correct the situation are:

1- Use different formatting if possible,

2- Use smaller font size if possible, or

3- Increase the column width as necessary.

Opton 3 merely involves clicking the column heading at the top of the column
(A, B, C, D, E, etc.), then go to Format>Column>AutoFit Selection. If this
makes the column too wide based on other content in the column, select just
the range of cells displaying the symbols and repeat the process (or you
could do it this way first).

For more options, see Excel Help on Column Width.

HTH |:>)
 
If a cell is formatted as text and contains over 255 characters but less than
1025, you can see this ####.

You can also see it if you have a negative number and the cell is formatted as
time/date (not using 1904 date system).

As well as some number formats where the column width is too narrow.
 
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