XL2000: Odd Behavior Using Format Painter and Merged Cells

• Microsoft Excel 2000

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel 2000, if you use the Format Painter tool to apply the Merged Cell formatting to a range of cells, values within that range may disappear suddenly and without warning.

CAUSE

This will occur if all the following conditions are true:

• You merged a group of cells within a worksheet.
  
  -and-



• You then selected another cell within the worksheet and clicked the Format Painter tool.
  
  -and-



• Cells to the right of and/or below the selected cell contained values.

WORKAROUND

If this problem occurs, you can either:

• Click Undo Paste Special on the Edit menu.
  
  -or-



• Follow these steps:



1. Click the Merge and Center tool on the Formatting toolbar.



2. Click OK. Then, click Cancel twice.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft Excel 2000 includes a feature that allows you to merge a group of cells into a single cell. To merge a group of cells:

1. Select the cells that you want to merge.



2. On the Format menu, click Cells. Click the Alignment tab.



3. Select the Merge Cells check box, and then click OK.

The selection contains multiple data values. Merging into one cell will keep the upper-left most data only.

REFERENCES

For more information about merging cells in Microsoft Excel, click Microsoft Excel Help on the Help menu, type merging, cells in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

Additional query words:

Keywords : kberrmsg xlui xlformat
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug