XL: Rich Text Formatting Is Lost When You Use Replace All

• Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 5.0, 5.0c
• Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 5.0, 5.0a
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition

SYMPTOMS

In the versions of Microsoft Excel listed at the beginning of this article, if you use the commands in the Replace dialog box to find and replace text in a worksheet, some cells may lose their text formatting.

CAUSE

This problem occurs if the following conditions are true:

• On the Edit menu, you click Replace. In the Replace dialog box, you enter text in the Find What and Replace With boxes, and then click Replace All.

      -and-
  

• Some of the cells in the worksheet use rich text formatting.

  NOTE: Rich text formatting is a combination of font, font size, font style (for example, bold or italic) and underlining formatting.

      -and-
  

• You replace text in a cell that uses rich text formatting.

RESOLUTION

If you click Replace All, you cannot prevent Microsoft Excel from removing rich text formatting from cells in which you replace text.

However, you can use Find Next to find each cell that contains the text you specify in the Find What box. After you find the cell, click Replace to replace the text in only that cell. If Microsoft Excel finds a cell that uses rich text formatting, click Close, manually edit the cell, and then click Replace on the Edit menu to resume the process.

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

You can apply rich text formatting to a cell in Microsoft Excel by following these steps:

1. Select the cell and start editing the cell, by double-clicking the cell or by clicking the formula bar.

2. Select the text that you want to format. On the Format menu, click Cells.

   The Font tab is displayed in the Format Cells dialog box that appears.

3. Change the font.

   For example, make the font bold or increase the font size.

4. Click OK. Then, press ENTER or RETURN (on a Macintosh computer) to enter the changes.