I agree the behaviour does not seem to have any obvious merit, but it
seems to have been like that from Excel 2002 to 2007 inclusive, at
least - and probably since the beginning of time.

It is unlikely that it will be changed since it could potentially break
existing applications. However I will post the question on a Microsoft
site where the developers will have the opportunity to review it and
possibly comment.

Meanwhile you have one work-around.
I guess another possibility would be to make the source workbooks not
be templates but just standard xls files - if that doesn't cause you
problems elsewhere.

Bill Manville
MVP - Microsoft Excel, Oxford, England
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