Software

Ask something
Discussion Locked

Character display in Excel.

0 helpful
6 replies

by regiturner

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.
How do you change the maximum number of characters that display in a cell in an Excel spreadsheet?

6 replies

by dklippert

The maximum number of text characters that can be displayed in a cell is 1024. This can not be increased. Total entries in a cell can be 32,767. The Formula bar will show all 32,767.

by dklippert

Type the Q number in the search box at support.microsoft.com.

Only 1,024 Characters Are Displayed in a Cell

Q211580

NOTE: You may be able to see more than 1,024 characters by increasing the row height and column width of the worksheet, or by modifying the display settings of the system.

Example
-------

To observe this behavior, follow these steps:

1. In cell A1 of a new worksheet, type the following formula:

=REPT("w",1024)&"xyz"

2. With cell A1 selected, clickCells on the Format menu.

3. Click the Alignment tab. Click to select the Wrap text check box, and click OK.

4. On the Format menu, point to Column, and click AutoFit Selection.

Note that all you can see in cell A1 are "w" characters;the "xyz" characters at the end of the cell are not displayed.

5. Type the following formulas in cell A2 and A3:

A2: =RIGHT(A1,3)
A3: =LEN(A1)

The formula in cell A2 returns the result "xyz", the three rightmost characters in the cell. Cell A3 contains the number 1027, the number of characters present in cell A1.

6. Change the formula in cell A1 to:

=REPT("w",1023)&"xyz"

You can see 1,023 "w" characters, followed by an "x" character. The "yz" characters are after the 1,024-character limit, so they are not displayed. The formula in cell A3 now displays 1026, the length of cell A1.

by kees.valkenswaard

It is not clear what you mean.
Is it about the width of a column in order to show all characters? Double click on the border between the column in which the data are and the on right of it. I mean the headings A, B, C etc. You can select several headings and double click. Or use format, columns and set the width you want. I know it is silly to set a width in characters with the modern character sets. Probably still from good old dBase.
It may be necessary to use Zoom in order to see the full cell.
Another thing might be to use format, cells?Click the tab alignment and check to wrap text.

If you would like to mail me at kees.valkenswaard@planet.nl do not forget to put Q&A as part of the subject line. Else the message would be deleted.

This discussion is closed to new replies.