Lots of text in cell...stops wrapping text

Welcome to the board. There is a limit to the number of characters allowed in a cell (255 I think..?). So maybe you need an alternative.

cells will only display a certain number of characters although they can hold more than they show.

if you type

=LEN(cellreference) what do you get, where cellreference = cell containing long string.

which version of XL are you running.

Thanks! When I typed the =LEN i got 1127. Its excel 2003.
So I have to maybe split it into 2 cells because the text is just too long?

According to the help file

"Length of cell contents (text) 32,767 characters. Only 1,024 display in a cell; all 32,767 display in the formula bar."

So, maybe you are okay with what you have, you just won't be able to see it displayed.

HTH

Yes, I believe XL03 will show 1024 characters.

There's a related thread on OzGrid which gives ref to an MS article and also a couple of ways you might want to go for presentational purposes -- ie still store entire string in one cell but use other cells to extract and present those characters beyond the 1024 limit in the "master" cell

It is there, but I do need it to print properly. I guess I should just cut it off at that point and put into a new cell? As long as I can get it to print to a pdf and look normal I'm ok...

assuming the long text is in A1 you could use the following in another cell

=MID(A1,1025,1024)

to show the next 1024 characters, though you may need to adjust to find last complete word etc... your call...manual might be safer it's a one off task.

Try typing each paragraph in a separate cell outside your print area (lets say F1). Type the next paragraph in F2, then F3 and so on, as long as each cell follows Excel's limits.

In cell A1, use the formula =F1&F2&F3. The text should appear in A1 BUT all as one paragraph. Don't forget to leave spaces after the full stop for sentence separation.

When I have to do long paragraphs, I tend to write each paragraph in one cell, and use a blank row to separate two paragraphs. I use the above trick when I need a long paragraph which exceeds Excel's limits.

Hope this helps
Riaz

ps - for those who are wondering what I am doing using Excel as a word processor, I use it to create financial statements, where I need Excel's superior formula handling for the numbers that go with the text. I'd rather do this than use Word to add up

Thanks Riaz! I will try that.
My reason for huge paragraphs in excel is that I am trying to comine HUGE amounts of data, usually prepared in a letter report- for multiple Sites across the country... for clarity excel works better. That is, to the person viewing it - apparently not always for the person trying to create it!