XL97: ;;; Number Format Fails to Hide Cell Contents

ID: Q158879

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

When you format a cell with the following number format 

   ;;;
the contents of the cell may still appear.

CAUSE

This problem occurs when the cell contains more than 1,024 characters.

WORKAROUND

To hide the contents of a cell that contains more than 1,024 characters, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell that contains characters you want to hide.

2. On the Format menu, click Conditional Formatting.

3. Under Condition 1, click Formula Is. Then, in the formula box, 

   type "=ISERROR(VALUE(<address>))" (without the quotation marks) where
   <address> is the address of the active cell (for example, A1).
4. Click Format. Click the Font tab. Then, in the Color box, click 
   white (or the color of the cell's background), and click OK.
5. Click OK.

Note that you still must apply the ;;; number format to the cell; the conditional formatting only hides the cell contents when the contents exceed 1,024 characters in length.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

In Microsoft Excel, you can hide the contents of a cell by applying the ;;; number format to the cell. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell(s) you want to format.

2. On the Format menu, click Cells. Then, click the Number tab.

3. In the Category list, click Custom. Then, in the Type box, 

   type ";;;" (without the quotation marks), and click OK.
When you format a cell with this number format, the characters in the cell are hidden, unless the contents exceed 1,024 characters in length.

Additional query words: XL97 general 

Keywords          : xlformat 
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbpending

Last Reviewed: February 3, 1999