I know this is going to sound dumb but this really bugs me.

When I copy a cell(s), the copied area is highlighted with "marching
ants". Seems that after pasting, the "marching ants" around the source
area should go away, but it doesn't. The only way I can get rid of the
"marching ants" around the source is to click like a madwoman in a cell
adjacent to the ants. Sometimes when I do that though, the clicking goes
awry and I get stuck in a tangle that is very hard to explain, but the
only way out is to close the workbook without saving and then re-open it.

So my question is, what's the right way to get rid of the ants
highlighting the source area after copying?

(Excel 2002)

RC

Hi,

You can press the ESC button.

Cheers
Andy

--

Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
http://www.andypope.info
"Riccol" wrote in message
...
I know this is going to sound dumb but this really bugs me.

When I copy a cell(s), the copied area is highlighted with "marching
ants". Seems that after pasting, the "marching ants" around the source
area should go away, but it doesn't. The only way I can get rid of the
"marching ants" around the source is to click like a madwoman in a cell
adjacent to the ants. Sometimes when I do that though, the clicking goes
awry and I get stuck in a tangle that is very hard to explain, but the
only way out is to close the workbook without saving and then re-open it.

So my question is, what's the right way to get rid of the ants
highlighting the source area after copying?

(Excel 2002)

RC

Thanks, Andy. Hitting Escape key quickly kills the ants without having
to click on a cell. I wonder why that little gem isn't in the Help file.
Thanks, I never would have thought to try Escape.

Andy Pope wrote:
Hi,

You can press the ESC button.

Cheers
Andy

I know this is going to sound dumb but this really bugs me.

You're not the only one!

I know I can just hit the Escape key but I use the mouse extensively so I
went so far as to create a button on one of my toolbars that kills the
marching ants! It's a lot faster for me just to use the mouse.

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


"Riccol" wrote in message
...
I know this is going to sound dumb but this really bugs me.

When I copy a cell(s), the copied area is highlighted with "marching
ants". Seems that after pasting, the "marching ants" around the source
area should go away, but it doesn't. The only way I can get rid of the
"marching ants" around the source is to click like a madwoman in a cell
adjacent to the ants. Sometimes when I do that though, the clicking goes
awry and I get stuck in a tangle that is very hard to explain, but the
only way out is to close the workbook without saving and then re-open it.

So my question is, what's the right way to get rid of the ants
highlighting the source area after copying?

(Excel 2002)

RC

How did you do that? I can see the benefit of killing them with the
mouse rather than having to reach for the Escape key.

T. Valko wrote:

You're not the only one!

I know I can just hit the Escape key but I use the mouse extensively so I
went so far as to create a button on one of my toolbars that kills the
marching ants! It's a lot faster for me just to use the mouse.

Sub Escape()
SendKeys "{ESC}"
End Sub

Alternative..........

Sub Ant_Killer()
Application.CutCopyMode = False
End Sub


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

On Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:59:18 -0500, Riccol wrote:

How did you do that? I can see the benefit of killing them with the
mouse rather than having to reach for the Escape key.

T. Valko wrote:

You're not the only one!

I know I can just hit the Escape key but I use the mouse extensively so I
went so far as to create a button on one of my toolbars that kills the
marching ants! It's a lot faster for me just to use the mouse.

I use the "Ant_Killer" method!

To the OP:

Do you use macros for anything and if so do you have any of them stored in a
file called Personal.xls?

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


"Gord Dibben" <gorddibbATshawDOTca wrote in message
...
Sub Escape()
SendKeys "{ESC}"
End Sub

Alternative..........

Sub Ant_Killer()
Application.CutCopyMode = False
End Sub


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

On Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:59:18 -0500, Riccol wrote:

How did you do that? I can see the benefit of killing them with the
mouse rather than having to reach for the Escape key.

T. Valko wrote:

You're not the only one!

I know I can just hit the Escape key but I use the mouse extensively so
I
went so far as to create a button on one of my toolbars that kills the
marching ants! It's a lot faster for me just to use the mouse.

I've never used a Macro before. The spreadsheets I make are mostly just
invoices and ledger stuff for my small (very small) business, no real
complicated formulas or anything, thus I've never tried learning about
Macros.

So the codes posted to kill the ants are greek to me, I don't even know
where I'm supposed to type them. But I'd like to learn what to do with
them if anyone has the time to explain it.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

RC

T. Valko wrote:
I use the "Ant_Killer" method!

To the OP:

Do you use macros for anything and if so do you have any of them stored in a
file called Personal.xls?

The simplest way that requires no extra movement is to put this in the
ThsiWorkbook module:
Code:
--------------------
Private Sub Workbook_SheetChange(ByVal Sh As Object, ByVal Target As Range)
Application.CutCopyMode = False
End Sub
--------------------
right after you have pasted it "kills" the ants!Riccol;183577 Wrote:
I know this is going to sound dumb but this really bugs me.

When I copy a cell(s), the copied area is highlighted with "marching
ants". Seems that after pasting, the "marching ants" around the source
area should go away, but it doesn't. The only way I can get rid of the
"marching ants" around the source is to click like a madwoman in a cell
adjacent to the ants. Sometimes when I do that though, the clicking
goes
awry and I get stuck in a tangle that is very hard to explain, but the
only way out is to close the workbook without saving and then re-open
it.

So my question is, what's the right way to get rid of the ants
highlighting the source area after copying?

(Excel 2002)

RC


--
Simon Lloyd

Regards,
Simon Lloyd
'The Code Cage' (http://www.thecodecage.com)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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View this thread: http://www.thecodecage.com/forumz/sh...ad.php?t=50724

once you select the cells to be copied and press ctrl+C, you put the cursor
in cell where in you require the data to be pasted, now instead of pressing
Ctrl+V just press enter key and the data would get pasted and also the
marching ants will vanish away without you doing anything else.

If this is a repeated thing for eg. you want to paste the same data two
times then for the first time use ctrl+V and the second time you directly hit
the enter key. This would again do the same thing paste the required data in
the required cell and remove the marching ants without you doing anything
else.
--
Thanks
Suleman Peerzade


"Riccol" wrote:

I know this is going to sound dumb but this really bugs me.

When I copy a cell(s), the copied area is highlighted with "marching
ants". Seems that after pasting, the "marching ants" around the source
area should go away, but it doesn't. The only way I can get rid of the
"marching ants" around the source is to click like a madwoman in a cell
adjacent to the ants. Sometimes when I do that though, the clicking goes
awry and I get stuck in a tangle that is very hard to explain, but the
only way out is to close the workbook without saving and then re-open it.

So my question is, what's the right way to get rid of the ants
highlighting the source area after copying?

(Excel 2002)

RC

On Thursday, 15 January 2009 15:04:33 UTC, Riccol wrote:
I know this is going to sound dumb but this really bugs me.

When I copy a cell(s), the copied area is highlighted with "marching
ants". Seems that after pasting, the "marching ants" around the source
area should go away, but it doesn't. The only way I can get rid of the
"marching ants" around the source is to click like a madwoman in a cell
adjacent to the ants. Sometimes when I do that though, the clicking goes
awry and I get stuck in a tangle that is very hard to explain, but the
only way out is to close the workbook without saving and then re-open it.

So my question is, what's the right way to get rid of the ants
highlighting the source area after copying?

(Excel 2002)

RC

Simple, just right click the cell with the dancing ants, select format, press okay in the pop-up window and it's done.

Hi RC,

I completely understand how those "marching ants" can be annoying! Luckily, there is a simple solution to get rid of them.

After you have pasted the copied cell(s), simply press the "Esc" key on your keyboard. This will deselect the copied area and remove the "marching ants" from the source area.

Alternatively, you can also click on any other cell in the worksheet to deselect the copied area and remove the "marching ants".

1. Copy the cell(s)
2. Paste the copied cell(s)
3. Press the "Esc" key or click on any other cell to deselect the copied area and remove the "marching ants"