Hi,

I did exactly what Dave said but starting with simple data, and it works. I
even a row that starts with data from A and end at D, then the next row
starts at Z and end at AC, and even some rows that are empty and it works
perfectly. You may want to try again, maybe with some simple data first to
make sure you do it correctly.

Regards,
Dolphin

" wrote:

Thanks for the tip, but unfortunately it did not work. Excel
highlights only entire columns that have no data, but if there is data
in even just one cell in a column, it will not highlight the blank
spaces in that column to be deleted.

What I need is a way to delete the blank cells in the first X amount of
cells that precede the cells containing actual data. This 'X' number
will change from row to row (so in row 1, there could be only 4 blank
spaces to be deleted, but in row 2 there may be 20 blank spaces, and in
row 3 there may be 12, etc...). Eventually, no matter how many blanks
needed to be removed from each row, I want to end up with a sheet
listing data only in columns A-D.

The tip you provided only allows me to select large, contiguous areas
of uninterrupted blank cells when I really need to be able to select a
bizarre kind of mix-n-match.

I fear I am just making things more confusing the more I try to explain
myself. Does what I'm looking for make sense? Is it just not
possible? Thx.




Dave Peterson wrote:
Select all the columns that have something in them (or select the whole
worksheet if you want).

Edit|goto|special|check blanks
edit|delete|shift cells left

You may want to do it against a test worksheet--just in case that's not what you
really want.


wrote:

Hi!
Thanks in advance for any advice. I am a relative novice stuck at a
crossroads and really appreciate any help.

I've created a spreadsheet that spits out the information I need
organized in the following format:

. A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L .....
1 X X X X
2 X X X X
3 X X X X
4 X X X X
5 X X X X
6 X X X X
____________________________

This means that, on any given row, there are 4 (and only 4) columns
containing information - and the rest of the cells are blank.

Now I need to know how to consolidate this information so that it is
all contained in one set of columns (eg):

. A - B - C - D
1 X X X X
2 X X X X
3 X X X X
4 X X X X
5 X X X X
6 X X X X
_____________________________

Like I said, I have it set up so that, on every single row, there are
exactly 4 consecutive cells containing info. I have also made sure
that there will be no blank rows to deal with (every row WILL contain 4
cells of info). However, the placement of those 4 cells along the X
axis varies from row to row (sometimes it is in cells A-D, and
sometimes in cells CH-CK, etc).

In simple terms, I need to just end up with a sheet containing only 4
columns of data, no more.

I never realized how hard it was to explain a spreadsheet! Hopefully I
made some sense, and someone out there will have some advice. Let me
know if there are any details I need to add that I've forgotten. Thx
again!

--

Dave Peterson