Re: Can't Sort due to merged cells not identical in size

[tarap...@officeformac.com]

I am trying to do a sort on a very simple (nor formulas) 5-column worksheet. Each time I go through the "sort" process I get a message that ways "the operation requires the merged cells to be identically sized. I have no merged cells that I am aware of. I expanded my column width and I still get the same message. What am I missing on this one?

Thanks
Tara

[JE McGimpsey]

In article <ee8d...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw>,
tarap...@officeformac.com wrote:

In general, it's helpful to include your XL and MacOS version when you
post here.

If you're using XL08, there's a known bug that if there are merged cells
in an *adjacent* column, you'll get this error.

Pre-XL08, I can only suggest you look for merged cells in your 5 columns.

[karenth...@officeformac.com]

I have the same problem as taraporter. My office computer has Mac OSX 10.4.11 and Excell 2004 11.0.

A couple of years ago I started a 4 column alphabetical list of closed files. I updated the list today and when I attempted to sort I got the message "this operation requires the merged cells to be identically sized"

I believe I did merge cells. Column D (labeled "additional information") was the widest of my columns and somehow it had become columns D through G, even though the written information spanned all those columns and wasn't partially hidden, as happens when you write more than can fit into the width of the column. The only way to tell that there were more columns is that my "additional information" column had faint blue vertical lines through the writing, and there were extra column letters shown at the top.

The faint lines through my writing annoyed me, so I changed column widths until I "pushed" the extra columns off the page. Then when I tried to sort my list I got the "merged cells" message. (I don't know how to say things technically, I just know what I see.)

Now what do I do? How do I "unmerge" the cells so I can get my list alphabetized? J.E. McGimpsey says to look for merged cells, but how do I find them and fix them?

[Bob Greenblatt]

On 3/26/08 5:03 PM, in article ee8d...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,
"karenth...@officeformac.com" <karenth...@officeformac.com> wrote:

You find them by clicking on the suspects and see if the cell outline covers
more than one column. The in the format menu-Cells-Alignment, unclick merge
cells.

--
Bob Greenblatt [MVP], Macintosh
bobgreenblattATmsnDOTcom

[karenth...@officeformac.com]

Thank you so much Mr. Greenblatt. I couldn't see that the cell outlines were covering more than one column, but I went into the format menu as instructed, unclicked the "merge cells" and was then able to alphabetize my list by sorting.
I would never have been able to figure that out without your help.

[Yosappy]

> In article ,
> tarap...@officeformac.com wrote:
>
> &gt; I am trying to do a sort on a very simple (nor formulas) 5-column worksheet.
> &gt; Each time I go through the "sort" process I get a message that ways "the
> &gt; operation requires the merged cells to be identically sized. I have no merged
> &gt; cells that I am aware of. I expanded my column width and I still get the same
> &gt; message. What am I missing on this one?

>
> In general, it's helpful to include your XL and MacOS version when you
> post here.
>
> If you're using XL08, there's a known bug that if there are merged cells
> in an *adjacent* column, you'll get this error.
>
> Pre-XL08, I can only suggest you look for merged cells in your 5 columns.
>

Mac OS 10.5.2 & Office 2008 Excel 12.0.1

GREAT ADVICE! Except, in my case, I had an adjacent ROW that was the culprit, not a column. I tried to paste to row 13 and kept getting the stupid merged cell error message. I racked my brains trying to figure out what was going on because there were no merged cells anywhere in row 13. But, thanks to your post, I checked the row below, row 14, and sure enough, that row has merged cells in it. So, I unmerged them and, low and behold, now I can paste just fine in row 13 without the error message. NICE WORK! Microsoft, please fix this BUG and post it on your web site front page because it is VERY ANNOYING! Thank you for solving my problem.

[melegri...@gmail.com]

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