Should have mentioned that you can use [ALT]+0nnn where 0nnn is a 4-digit
number code entered from the number pad (not number keys at top of the
keyboard) to enter certain symbols or special characters. What shows up is
dependent on the font set selected for the cell.
For instance, choosing the Symbol font set and entering [ALT]+0230 will
display a greek Sigma symbol (the funny E used on the autosum icon) but
choosing the Arial font set will cause a small 'a' with a tiny square above
it to be displayed.

Type a lowercase a into a cell and then change that cell's font to Marlett
will result in a checkmark being displayed.

'Problem' is that you can't mix font sets in a single cell.

You can find a list of the characters returned with these codes an others in
'standard' font sets like Arial and Times New Roman he
http://www.starr.net/is/type/altnum.htm

"Malcolm Austin" wrote:

Hi,
In Excel 2000, under XP SP2.

I lose the insert symbol function at odd times. Some times if I shut the
file down and
re-open it comes back other times not.

I guess there is a real good reason for this but I can't see it.

Is it a formatting thing or something really simple?

Thanks,
Malcolm