XL: Text Pasted from Text Box Contains Extra Blank Cells

• Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition
• Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 5.0, 5.0a

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel, if you copy text in a text box and paste the text in a cell in a worksheet, the pasted text may contain extra blank cells.

CAUSE

This problem occurs if the copied text contains any carriage returns, for example

   ABC<RETURN>
   DEF<RETURN>
   GHI

When you paste the text, it appears in the worksheet as follows

   ABC
   <blank cell>
   DEF
   <blank cell>
   GHI

WORKAROUND

If this problem occurs, manually delete the blank cells, or move the pasted cells together so that no blank cells are between them.

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 for the Macintosh, if you press RETURN while entering text in a text box, a carriage return (CR) character is added to the text box.

When you copy text from the text box, copied CR characters are converted into "carriage return line feed" (CRLF) characters. If you then paste the text into a worksheet, Microsoft Excel treats the CRLF characters as two separate CR characters. As a result, blank cells appear in the pasted text.

Example

To see an example of this problem, follow these steps:

1. In Microsoft Excel, create a new workbook.

2. Use the Text Box tool on the Drawing toolbar to draw a text box on a worksheet.

   NOTE: If the Drawing toolbar is not displayed, click Toolbars, and then click Drawing.

3. Type the following text in the new text box:

         ABC
         DEF
         GHI
   

   NOTE: Press RETURN after each line of text.

4. Select all of the text in the text box, and then click Copy on the Edit menu.

5. Select cell A1. On the Edit menu, click Paste.

   A1: ABC
   A2:
   A3: DEF
   A4:
   A5: GHI