XL97: Borders Appear in Printed Workbook Using Track Changes (165979)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
This article was previously published under Q165979

SYMPTOMS

If you view a document in print preview or you print the document, some or all cells may appear or print with borders. This behavior occurs even if no border formatting is applied to the cell.

CAUSE

This problem may occur when all of the following conditions are true:
  • The workbook is being shared.

    -and-
  • The "Highlight changes on screen" check box is selected in the Highlight Changes dialog box.

    -and-
  • You modify the workbook without saving it.

RESOLUTION

Method 1: Clear the "Highlight Changes on Screen" Check Box

To prevent borders from appearing around cells when the workbook is shared and contains unsaved changes, clear the "Highlight changes on screen" check box. To do this, use the following steps:
  1. On the Tools menu, point to Track Changes, and then click Highlight Changes.
  2. In the Highlight Changes dialog box, clear the "Highlight changes on screen" check box.
  3. Click OK.
By clearing the "Highlight changes on screen" check box, the changed cells are not highlighted (marked) on the worksheet, and the changed cells do not appear with borders in print preview or in the printed document. If you want changed cells to be marked on the worksheet, borders appear in print preview or in the printed document; you cannot set these two options independently.

Method 2: Use "Since I last saved"

If you click "Since I last saved" in the When list (in the Highlight Changes dialog box), and then save the workbook, all modifications are saved. After you save the file, the cells that were marked as changed cells do not appear with a border. To use this method, use the following steps:
  1. On the Tools menu, point to Track Changes, and then click Highlight Changes.
  2. In the When list, click "Since I last saved."
  3. Click OK.
  4. On the File menu, click Save.
NOTE: If you point to Track Changes on the Tools menu, and then click "Accept or Reject Changes," you are prompted to save the workbook before you can accept or reject the changes. In any event, after you save the workbook, the changed cells do not appear with a border.

STATUS

This behavior is by design of Microsoft Excel.

MORE INFORMATION

When you select the "Highlight changes on screen" check box, any cells that you change are marked on the worksheet with a colored border, and a small triangle appears in the upper-left corner of the cell. If you move the pointer over this triangle, a comment box appears with information about the latest modification to the cell. Also, if you manually add a comment to the cell, the text of the comment and the text of the changes message are combined to appear when you move the pointer over the triangle in either the upper-left or upper-right corner of the cell.

REFERENCES

For more information about tracking changes, click the Index tab in Microsoft Excel Help, type the following text 
   change highlighting
and then double-click the selected text to go to the "Highlight changes as you work" topic.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:9/7/2001
Keywords:kbprb kbprint KB165979
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.