thanks so much for your response. i tried to clear all
formatting/contents/comments in all the unused columns...still nothing. if
you can give it a go, i'd really appreciate it.

"Jim Rech" wrote:

Something is out there. Could it be a cell comment? A "shape" of some
sort? Feel free to send me the workbook if you cannot find it.

--
Jim
"omb researcher" <omb wrote in message
...
| Spreadsheet with columns A through G have data.
| I want to insert columns between C and D but error message (cannot shift
non
| blank cell off worksheet) comes up.
| Tried to delete all columns and clear contents/formatting of last data
cell
| (after hitting CTRL end) but the same message comes up.