I have a spreadsheet with a column of serial numbers comprised of both
numbers and letters. I have formatted the column to "general" and am
comparing it to another spreadsheet for matches. When I create my vlookup
formula I get partial matches. Many of the responses show #N/A but if I
double click on the original serial number column and go down the list cell
by cell hitting F2 and Enter, then the match shows up where it should have
before. I have tried several ways to ensure the columns I am comparing are
both formated as "general". Some of my columns are over 6000 rows long and I
cannot go row by row hitting F2 and Enter. It appears there is some residual
formatting hanging which is not allowing the column to be truly formatted as
"general". Any ideas how to force the formatting to "general"?