XL98: Copied and Pasted Chart Appears as Gray Rectangle

• Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition

SYMPTOMS

When you copy a chart in Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition and paste it into a document in another program (for example, Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition), the chart you pasted appears as a gray rectangle.

CAUSE

This problem occurs when you select the Show Placeholders option (Click Preferences on the Tools menu and click the View tab) in Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition before you copy the chart.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use either of the following methods.

Method 1: Switch to Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition

To work around this problem, follow these steps:

1. Double-click the pasted chart. When you do this, Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition appears, and the chart is displayed.

2. When the chart appears correctly, click anywhere in the document to deactivate Microsoft Excel.

Method 2: Clear the Show Placeholders Check Box

To work around this problem, follow these steps before you copy the chart:

1. On the Tools menu, click Preferences. Select the View tab.

2. Click Show All, 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 98 Macintosh Edition, you can control the appearance of objects in a worksheet. To access the options that allow you to control the appearance of objects, use the following steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click Preferences.

2. Click the View tab.

   Option              Affect
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Show All            All objects are displayed normally.

   Show Placeholders   A gray object appears in the place of each object in
                       the worksheet. Details for each object are not
                       visible.

   Hide All            All objects are not displayed.

If you copy a chart in Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition when the Show Placeholders option is selected, and then paste the chart into another program, the chart may not be pasted correctly. This behavior may occur even when the chart appears correctly when you copy it. This problem may occur when you paste a chart in Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition.