CAUSE
This problem may occur when you run a macro that uses the Select method to
select a range of cells and performs an action on the selected cells.
If you programmatically select a merged cell in a range, the selection may
be enlarged so that it encompasses the columns or rows that are occupied by
the merged cell. For example, if the range A2:C2 is merged, the following
statement selects cells A1:C10 and not A1:A10 as you expect:
ActiveSheet.Range("A1:A10").Select
The selection is expanded to include B1:C10 because range A1:A10 contains a
merged cell that extends into cells in columns B and C.
NOTE: In this scenario in Microsoft Excel 98, you cannot select only cells
A1:A10 with the mouse. Microsoft Excel automatically extends the selection
to include cells B1:C10 because the range A2:C2 is merged.
WORKAROUND
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To work around this behavior, use one of the following methods.
Method 1
Apply the property or method to specific a Range object rather than a
Selection object if the selection contains merged cells that span cells
outside of that specified range.
For example, the following macro selects cells A1:A10 and applies a bold
font format to the selection:
Sub FormatCells()
ActiveSheet.Range("A1:A10").Select
Selection.Font.Bold = True
End Sub
If cells A2:C2 are merged, this macro applies a bold font format to the
cells A1:C10. If you want to limit the bold font format to cells A1:A10,
use the following macro instead. The following example applies a bold font
format to the specific Range object:
Sub FormatCells()
ActiveSheet.Range("A1:A10").Font.Bold = True
End Sub
Method 2
When you use this method, you check whether merged cells exist in the range
prior to performing an action. The following macro determines if there are
any merged cells in the range A1:A10 prior to formatting the cells:
Sub FormatCells()
ActiveSheet.Range("A1:A10").Select
'Apply Bold to the selection if it does not contain merged cells.
If Not(Selection.MergeCells = True) Then
Selection.Font.Bold = True
End If
End Sub