Microsoft KB Archive/211497

= XL2000: ;;; Number Format Fails to Hide Cell Contents =

Article ID: 211497

Article Last Modified on 10/6/2003

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 2000 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q211497





SYMPTOMS
When you format a cell with the following number format:

  ;;;

the contents of the cell may still appear.



CAUSE
This problem occurs when the cell contains more than 1,024 characters.



WORKAROUND
To hide the contents of a cell that contains more than 1,024 characters, follow these steps:


 * 1) Select the cell that contains characters you want to hide.
 * 2) On the Format menu, click Conditional Formatting.
 * 3) Under Condition 1, click Formula Is. Then, in the formula box, type =ISERROR(VALUE) where   is the address of the active cell (for example, A1).
 * 4) Click Format. Click the Font tab. Then, in the Color box, click white (or the color of the cell's background), and click OK.
 * 5) Click OK.

Note that you still must apply the ;;; number format to the cell; the conditional formatting only hides the cell contents when the contents exceed 1,024 characters in length.



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



MORE INFORMATION
In Microsoft Excel, you can hide the contents of a cell by applying the ;;; number format to the cell. To do this, follow these steps:


 * 1) Select the cell(s) you want to format.
 * 2) On the Format menu, click Cells. Then, click the Number tab.
 * 3) In the Category list, click Custom. Then, in the Type box, type ;;;, and click OK.

When you format a cell with this number format, the characters in the cell are hidden, unless the contents exceed 1,024 characters in length.

Additional query words: XL2000 general

Keywords: kbbug kbpending KB211497

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