XL97: CTRL+SHIFT+" Keyboard Shortcut Returns 1024 Characters

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

If you press CTRL+SHIFT+" (quotation mark) to copy a cell value, the value that you paste into the active cell may contain fewer characters than the value that you copied.

CAUSE

The CTRL+SHIFT+" keyboard shortcut, which is designed to copy the value (not the formula) from the cell above the active cell into the active cell or formula bar, is limited to copying 1024 characters.

WORKAROUND

To work around this behavior, copy the value and then use the Paste Special command. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell to be copied.

2. On the Edit menu, click Copy.

3. Select the cell in which you want to paste the value.

4. On the Edit menu, click Paste Special.

5. In the Paste Special dialog box, click Values, and then click OK.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

In Microsoft Excel 97, the limit to the number of text characters that you can type in a cell has increased to 32767 characters. Although the CTRL+SHIFT+" keyboard shortcut works as described in this article, the shortcut is designed to copy only the first 1024 characters in the cell.

REFERENCES

For more information about Keyboard Shortcuts, click the Index tab in Microsoft Excel Help, type the following text

   keyboard shortcuts