Compatability Mode "This workbook contains data in cells outside of the row and column limit of the selected file format"

David.K.Dickson

New Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2005
Messages
6
I am using Excel 2007, but my client uses Excel 2003, and we share a "Tracker" spreadsheet with them, which I maintain in 2007 and they open and read in 2003.

Up until today, this seemed to work well. However, today I added a new tab to the front of the workbook called "Index" and listed 30 out of the 40 tabs, and inserted hyperlinks, so that the users can quickly find the tab(s) they are interested in. When I clicked the Save icon, I got the message:-

<b>"This workbook contains data in cells outside of the row and column limit of the selected file format. Data beyond 256 (IV) columns by 65,536 rows will not be saved. Formula references to data in this region will return a #REF! error."</b>

To the right of the message was a hyperlink called Find, so I clicked it and it took me to what had previously been the first tab and highlighted all of the data in AA3:AU154 This is not beyond column IV or row 65,536

In fact, the message appeared twice. Once for what had been the first tab. and once for what had been the second tab - when I clicked find on this one, it highlighted cells AT3:AT154 of what had been the second tab - again well inside the claimed row and column limits.

I searched Google for "outside of the row and column limit" and found a few links to microsoft.com, but they all revolved round there not being a find button, only a hyperlink. Except for one, which asked for a copy of the file. Unfortunately, my client is a government department and I am not permitted to send the file.

I thought about it for a while, then selected what had been the first tab, then hit the Save icon and the file was saved without the "outside of the row and column limit" message. I repeated this with what had been the second tab, and again, no message. So I selected my new "Index" tab again, hit the Save icon and got the "outside of the row and column limit" message.

I can't see how this can be caused by data outside of the 256 by 65,536 area, but I have got no idea what the <b> real </b> problem is,

So, having built this "Index" to help my users, I can't use it (Grrrr!) Yes, I can click "Continue" to ignore the mesage and save it anyway, but I want to try to avoid having to do this to ensure that other errors don't creep in un-noticed.

Has anybody else encountered this, and if so, how did you resolve it, please?

Many thanks in anticipation.
 

Excel Facts

Difference between two dates
Secret function! Use =DATEDIF(A2,B2,"Y")&" years"&=DATEDIF(A2,B2,"YM")&" months"&=DATEDIF(A2,B2,"MD")&" days"
Never encountered it, but wondering if saving as Excel 97-2003 would help, file format.xls. My guess is if you force the entire file to think its old (i.e.e saving in an old format) then these sorts of issues really can't come up because there's never a chance to go outsice row 65,536 or column IV.
 
Upvote 0
..... wondering if saving as Excel 97-2003 would help, file format.xls. .....

Sorry. I forgot to specify that I am using "Compatibility Mode" with a filetype of .xls - I need to do this so that my client can open the file using Excel 2003 (thay are not allowed to download the compatibility pack).
 
Upvote 0
Well that make sthe issue more perlexing....if its saved as a .xls file then you can't even access ranges outside column IV or row 65536.
 
Upvote 0
What is in the ranges that were selected by the Find option? (it's not supposed to find ranges outside the usable range, it's supposed to find the cells using those ranges).
 
Upvote 0

Forum statistics

Threads
1,213,492
Messages
6,113,967
Members
448,537
Latest member
Et_Cetera

We've detected that you are using an adblocker.

We have a great community of people providing Excel help here, but the hosting costs are enormous. You can help keep this site running by allowing ads on MrExcel.com.
Allow Ads at MrExcel

Which adblocker are you using?

Disable AdBlock

Follow these easy steps to disable AdBlock

1)Click on the icon in the browser’s toolbar.
2)Click on the icon in the browser’s toolbar.
2)Click on the "Pause on this site" option.
Go back

Disable AdBlock Plus

Follow these easy steps to disable AdBlock Plus

1)Click on the icon in the browser’s toolbar.
2)Click on the toggle to disable it for "mrexcel.com".
Go back

Disable uBlock Origin

Follow these easy steps to disable uBlock Origin

1)Click on the icon in the browser’s toolbar.
2)Click on the "Power" button.
3)Click on the "Refresh" button.
Go back

Disable uBlock

Follow these easy steps to disable uBlock

1)Click on the icon in the browser’s toolbar.
2)Click on the "Power" button.
3)Click on the "Refresh" button.
Go back
Back
Top