It did work for me.

I'd try it once more.

And it worked for Dolphin (if that is his/her real name <bg).

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

--

Dave Peterson