XL97: Data Overwritten Copying More Than 31,737 Characters

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you copy more than 31,737 characters, and then paste them in another cell, Microsoft Excel pastes only 31,737 characters. The remaining characters are pasted into the cell below the cell that contains the 31,737 characters. Microsoft Excel automatically overwrites data that exists in this cell without warning.

CAUSE

This problem occurs when the following conditions are true:

• You double-click a cell or press F2 to activate edit mode.

      -and-
  

• The cell you are editing contains more than 31,737 characters.

      -and-
  

• You select and copy more than 31,737 characters in the cell, and then paste the characters in another cell.

NOTE: This problem occurs only if you are in edit mode when you copy more than 31,737 characters.

RESOLUTION

To copy more than 31,737 characters from one cell to another, first copy and paste the entire cell contents, and then delete any unwanted characters in the destination cell.

To copy and paste the entire cell contents, do the following:

1. Select the cell that contains the characters you want to copy.

   NOTE: Do not double-click the cell or press F2 because this activates edit mode.

2. On the Edit menu, click Copy.

3. Select the destination cell, and then click Paste on the Edit menu.

1. Double-click the destination cell or press F2 to activate edit mode.

2. Select the unwanted characters in the destination cell, and then press Delete.

3. After you delete the unwanted characters, press ENTER.

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.