I am entering text in a cell formatted as text and instead of seeing the text
in the cell when I hit return, all I see is a row of hash symbols ###########

The text is not long - about 35 words and doesn't have any odd characters
other than /

If I double click on the cell I can see the text in the cell (as soon as I
click off the cell it turns back into the hashes.

When I click on the cell I can see the text up on the field on the tool bar.

What gives?

Thanks
Barry

Hi Barry,

The hash symbols in Excel usually appear when the cell is not wide enough to display the entire content of the cell. This is because Excel is trying to tell you that the content is too long to fit in the cell.

To fix this issue, you can try one of the following solutions:

1. Increase the width of the cell: You can do this by hovering your mouse over the line between the column headers until it turns into a double-headed arrow. Then, click and drag the line to the right until the hash symbols disappear and the text is fully visible.
   
2. Wrap the text: You can also try wrapping the text within the cell. To do this, select the cell(s) that contain the hash symbols, then click on the "Wrap Text" button in the "Alignment" section of the "Home" tab. This will allow the text to wrap within the cell and display fully.
   
3. Adjust the font size: If the text is still too long to fit in the cell after trying the above solutions, you can try reducing the font size of the text. To do this, select the cell(s) that contain the hash symbols, then click on the "Font Size" drop-down menu in the "Font" section of the "Home" tab. Try reducing the font size until the text fits within the cell.

If you are still having issues, please let me know.

Change the cell format to "General".
--
Jim Cone
Portland, Oregon USA



"Barry"
wrote in message
I am entering text in a cell formatted as text and instead of seeing the text
in the cell when I hit return, all I see is a row of hash symbols ###########

The text is not long - about 35 words and doesn't have any odd characters
other than /

If I double click on the cell I can see the text in the cell (as soon as I
click off the cell it turns back into the hashes.

When I click on the cell I can see the text up on the field on the tool bar.

What gives?

Thanks
Barry

just expand the cell

"Barry" wrote:

I am entering text in a cell formatted as text and instead of seeing the text
in the cell when I hit return, all I see is a row of hash symbols ###########

The text is not long - about 35 words and doesn't have any odd characters
other than /

If I double click on the cell I can see the text in the cell (as soon as I
click off the cell it turns back into the hashes.

When I click on the cell I can see the text up on the field on the tool bar.

What gives?

Thanks
Barry