Maximum data in cell

[Guest]

I have a spreadsheet where I am entering several small paragraphs of text
into one cell (less than 2000 characters) in a chart, and there are more than
80 cells where I need to enter similar data (3 to 8 paragraphs per cell).

Excel only seems to recognise the first 1000 or so characters (with spaces)
when I copy data into or out of the cell (from word to the cell and from the
cell back to word) so some of my data is getting cut off. Also, when I do the
"auto fit height" it also ignores any data after approx 1000 characters, so
my data is not in view. If I re-size it and can see the data, save it, and
re-open it, the data is all cut off again. Why is this? Anyway to fix it
(please say yes!!)

I have tried 3 versions of excel (97, 2000, 2003) and all do the same thing.

 

[Dave Peterson]

Add some alt-enters (to force new lines within the cell) every 80-100
characters. And you'll be able to see more than those 1000 characters or so.

 

[Guest]

This is a common problem. The data is actually in the cell ( it will appear
in the formula bar), but is not visible in the cell and will not print.


The way to fix it is to insert a manual line break about every 1000
characters in the text. (the manual line break is ALT-enter)

 

[Dave Peterson]

1000???

This is a common problem. The data is actually in the cell ( it will appear
in the formula bar), but is not visible in the cell and will not print.

The way to fix it is to insert a manual line break about every 1000
characters in the text. (the manual line break is ALT-enter)

 

[Guest]

Wait, I just tested something. When I used auto height on the two long ones I
am having problems with, they both default to a height of 180. Is this the
maximum autofit height maybe and that's why?

 

[Guest]

I have already done that after each paragraph, which is usually only 1-2
sentences each (some are a little longer, 4 or 5). Due to the nature of the
text, I can't break it up anymore than what it is. Each cell has the text of
a letter (ie cover letter) put into opening paragraph, middle paragraphs, and
ending paragraph. The formating must remain as is, and if I add extra spaces
it will not look professional.

Would adding an Alt-Enter or two at the end of the data help?

 

[Guest]

I also spoke with one person who advised that if we merge the cells, they
will hold more data. we tried that, but when we closed and opened the file
again, the cell shrunk again to the auto-fit size and cut off the text.

 

[Guest]

I just saw this post on one forum:

"Vicki - Sadly, Excel has the following limits for cell entries. The Length
of cell contents (text)is 32,767 characters, BUT only 1,024 display in a
cell. All 32,767 display in the formula bar."

Anyone know if there is a way around this? I need it to display more than
1,024 characters. For printing will it print all the characters?

 

[Dave Peterson]

Alt-enters at the bottom helping? I wouldn't guess so, but what happened when
you tried it?

How about a hyperlink to an MSWord file where things are formatted nicer?

 

[Dave Peterson]

I could get a height of about 409 by adjusting the rowheight manually.

 

[Dave Peterson]

the workaround is the alt-enters.

I just saw this post on one forum:

"Vicki - Sadly, Excel has the following limits for cell entries. The Length
of cell contents (text)is 32,767 characters, BUT only 1,024 display in a
cell. All 32,767 display in the formula bar."

Anyone know if there is a way around this? I need it to display more than
1,024 characters. For printing will it print all the characters?

 

[Dave Peterson]

Autofitting doesn't work nicely with merged cells. But you can resize manually.

 

[Gord Dibben]

Merged cells do not hold any more data then a single cell.

Merging 4 cells just creates one single cell.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP