Text in Text-formatted cells changes to ### after the 255th character

**longtalker** · 07-30-2009, 09:12 AM

Many times in the past when I would type plain text into cells of an Excel spreadhseet, I noticed that at point, the contents of a cell would turn into sharp signs (i.e. ####################). I did not know what triggered this, but I did notice that if I change the cell type from Text to General, the cell's text would come back to normal.

Today I had this happened again, and I was determined to find out what caused it. As it turns out, if you have a Text-formatted type cell and you type more than 255 characters in it, all the cell's contents will turn into sharp signs. In order to revert to the text you must either change the cell's format to General or truncate the text manually to a maximum of 255 characters.

The problem with formatting cells as General in a text-only spreadsheet is that you cannot use characters that make Excel think you are typing a formula; that is, you cannot use hyphens or "keywords" such as "not", etc, without prefixing them with a '. This is why I normally format all cells as Text when I know I will only type text in a certain spreadsheet.

Has anyone else noticed this, and is there a solution to have more than 255 characters in a cell without having to change its type to General? Thanks for any help.

**arthurbr** · 07-30-2009, 09:18 AM

Are you talking about XL2007?

**DonkeyOte** · 07-30-2009, 09:20 AM

Your post does not comply with Rule 8 of our Forum RULES. Cross-posting is when you post the same question in other forums on the web. You'll find people are disinclined to respond to cross-posts because they may be wasting their time solving a problem that has been solved elsewhere. We prefer that you not cross-post at all, but if you do (and it's unlikely to go unnoticed), you MUST provide a link (copy the url from the address bar in your browser)to the cross-post. Expect cross-posts without a link to be closed a message will be posted by the moderator explaining why. We are here to help so help us help you!

http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/showthread.php?t=406338

**longtalker** · 07-30-2009, 10:08 AM

DonkeyOte: Sorry about this - I was not aware you are not allowed to post your question on other forums once you have posted them on ExcelForum. Seems a bit odd if you ask me: when I want advice from my friends, I don't usually ask just *one* friend. Anyway, the reason why I posted my question on other forums as well is that many times questions are left unanswered on one forum but may receive a reply by someone (who happens to have had the same problem as you) on another forum.

arthurbr: Yes, Excel 2007. Forgot to specify...

**martindwilson** · 07-30-2009, 10:14 AM

no but you'd tell your friend you'd ask someone else too wouldn't you.

**arthurbr** · 07-30-2009, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by longtalker

DonkeyOte: Sorry about this - I was not aware you are not allowed to post your question on other forums once you have posted them on ExcelForum. Seems a bit odd if you ask me: when I want advice from my friends, I don't usually ask just *one* friend. Anyway, the reason why I posted my question on other forums as well is that many times questions are left unanswered on one forum but may receive a reply by someone (who happens to have had the same problem as you) on another forum.

arthurbr: Yes, Excel 2007. Forgot to specify...

Nobody said cross posting in itself is prohibited. The only thing asked is to add a link to your other post so that everybody can see what has already been answered on other forums.
If you have a little time please read this interesting article

**longtalker** · 07-31-2009, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by arthurbr

If you have a little time please read this interesting article

Thanks for the article. I never thought of it that way, but I certainly agree with the point made. From now on I will provide links to the previous, unanswered threads.