why do some cells automatically switch to ####### when I write?
 

I am fairly new to Excel and finding that when I finish typing in some cells,
the text disappears and I get a continuous line of ##### when I move out of
that cell. How do I stop this from happening?

why do some cells automatically switch to ####### when I write?
 

Hi,
That is because of the column width, just expand it and you will be able to
see what you typed

"Curious" wrote:

I am fairly new to Excel and finding that when I finish typing in some cells,
the text disappears and I get a continuous line of ##### when I move out of
that cell. How do I stop this from happening?

why do some cells automatically switch to ####### when I write
 

Hi Eduardo,
Thanks for responding.
Tried expanding the column width to the max of 255 but still the same
result. Thing is - if I double click in the column, the text re-appears, and
it stays in the typing bar above, but once I leave the cell or try to save,
the ########## return.

"Eduardo" wrote:

Hi,
That is because of the column width, just expand it and you will be able to
see what you typed

"Curious" wrote:

I am fairly new to Excel and finding that when I finish typing in some cells,
the text disappears and I get a continuous line of ##### when I move out of
that cell. How do I stop this from happening?

why do some cells automatically switch to ####### when I write
 

I'm guessing it's #3 for you.

Saved from a previous post.

It could mean a few things.

1. The columnwidth is too narrow to show the number.

Widen the column or change the font size of that cell. Or change the
numberformat to General.

2. You have a date/time in that cell and it's negative

Don't use negative dates. If excel was helping you, it may have
changed the format to a date. Change it back to General (or some
other number format).

If you need to see negative date/times:
Tools|options|Calculation Tab|and check 1904 date system
(but this can cause trouble--watch what happens to your dates
and watch what happens when you copy|paste dates to a different
workbook that doesn't use this setting)

3. You have a lot of text in the cell, the cell is formatted as Text.

Format the cell as general.

4. You really have ###'s in that cell.

Clean up that cell.

5. You have # in a cell, but it's format is set to Fill.

Change the format
(format|cells|alignment tab|horizontal box, change it to General.

Curious wrote:

Hi Eduardo,
Thanks for responding.
Tried expanding the column width to the max of 255 but still the same
result. Thing is - if I double click in the column, the text re-appears, and
it stays in the typing bar above, but once I leave the cell or try to save,
the ########## return.

"Eduardo" wrote:

Hi,
That is because of the column width, just expand it and you will be able to
see what you typed

"Curious" wrote:

I am fairly new to Excel and finding that when I finish typing in some cells,
the text disappears and I get a continuous line of ##### when I move out of
that cell. How do I stop this from happening?

--

Dave Peterson

why do some cells automatically switch to ####### when I write?
 

I asked some others in the office and we finally figured out how to get rid
of it - am posting it here in case anyone else has the problem.
We went to 'Format - Cells' and changed it from 'text' to 'general'. That
made the #### go away!!!


"Curious" wrote:

I am fairly new to Excel and finding that when I finish typing in some cells,
the text disappears and I get a continuous line of ##### when I move out of
that cell. How do I stop this from happening?

why do some cells automatically switch to ####### when I write
 

Thanks, Dave. You were correct - it was no 3!

"Dave Peterson" wrote:

I'm guessing it's #3 for you.

Saved from a previous post.

It could mean a few things.

1. The columnwidth is too narrow to show the number.

Widen the column or change the font size of that cell. Or change the
numberformat to General.

2. You have a date/time in that cell and it's negative

Don't use negative dates. If excel was helping you, it may have
changed the format to a date. Change it back to General (or some
other number format).

If you need to see negative date/times:
Tools|options|Calculation Tab|and check 1904 date system
(but this can cause trouble--watch what happens to your dates
and watch what happens when you copy|paste dates to a different
workbook that doesn't use this setting)

3. You have a lot of text in the cell, the cell is formatted as Text.

Format the cell as general.

4. You really have ###'s in that cell.

Clean up that cell.

5. You have # in a cell, but it's format is set to Fill.

Change the format
(format|cells|alignment tab|horizontal box, change it to General.

Curious wrote:

Hi Eduardo,
Thanks for responding.
Tried expanding the column width to the max of 255 but still the same
result. Thing is - if I double click in the column, the text re-appears, and
it stays in the typing bar above, but once I leave the cell or try to save,
the ########## return.

"Eduardo" wrote:

Hi,
That is because of the column width, just expand it and you will be able to
see what you typed

"Curious" wrote:

I am fairly new to Excel and finding that when I finish typing in some cells,
the text disappears and I get a continuous line of ##### when I move out of
that cell. How do I stop this from happening?

--

Dave Peterson

why do some cells automatically switch to ####### when I write?
 

You have found the trick!!

Now here's why it works.

Excel has a problem with Text formatted cells when the number of charaters
is between 255 and 1024.

Format to General and the ######### disappear.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

On Fri, 16 Jan 2009 07:26:01 -0800, Curious
wrote:

I asked some others in the office and we finally figured out how to get rid
of it - am posting it here in case anyone else has the problem.
We went to 'Format - Cells' and changed it from 'text' to 'general'. That
made the #### go away!!!


"Curious" wrote:

I am fairly new to Excel and finding that when I finish typing in some cells,
the text disappears and I get a continuous line of ##### when I move out of
that cell. How do I stop this from happening?