XL98: Formats May Not Be Applied to Pasted Merged Cell (181566)

SYMPTOMS

When you copy a merged cell and paste it, Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition fails to apply the formatting of the original merged cell to the merged cell you pasted.

CAUSE

This problem occurs when the following conditions are true:

You copy one merged cell, and then paste it into another merged cell. -and-
The two merged cells are different sizes.

Note that this problem does not occur when you copy a merged cell and paste it in a single, unmerged cell or in another merged cell that is exactly the same size as the cell you copied.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, follow these steps:

Select the first merged cell. On the Format menu, click Cells.
For each tab that contains formatting that is applied to the cell, follow these steps:
1. Click the tab.
2. Change the value of one option on the tab, and then reset it to the original setting. The selected options should be the same options that you originally selected. For example, in the Font tab, click the Strikethrough check box twice.
  
  NOTE: If the cell contains more than one type of formatting, perform these steps for each tab that contains the formatting options you selected.
3. Click OK.
Select the second merged cell.
On the Edit menu, click Repeat Format Cells.

The result is that the second merged cell is formatted exactly as the first merged cell.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition allows you to merge a group of cells into a single cell. To merge a group of cells, use the following steps:

Select the cells that you want to merge.
On the Format menu, click Cells. Select the Alignment tab.
Select the Merge Cells check box, and then click OK.

When you copy a merged cell, you can paste it into a single cell, which is merged with other cells to produce an identical merged cell, or you can paste the cell into another merged cell.

If you paste the cell into another merged cell, formatting from the first merged cell is not applied to the second merged cell if the merged cells are different sizes.