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Why do i see hashtags in a cell, rather than the data itself?

Anonymous
2013-05-06T21:45:06+00:00

From FileMaker 11 on a Mac (OSX 10.8.3), I am exporting data into a new Excel file.  When i open the new file, some fields/cells have a long line of hash tags (#######) in the cell, instead of the data (and some cells in the same column come in just fine). Yet, when i click inside the cell and look above in the formula line, i can see the actual data that was exported. So it IS there!  But when i click outside that cell, all i see again are the hash tags.  What is going on here, and how can i get the data to be seen in the cell itself??

At first i thought it might be a limitation of sorts, like maybe i was exporting too much text in the field.  However, that apparently is not the answer.

I have discovered the following workaround:

  1. Double-click inside the cell and COPY all its contents.
  2. Click into a NEW cell and then PASTE the contents, not into the cell itself, but up into the formula bar.
  3. Then click ENTER, and voila — i can now see all the text, just as i had exported it from FileMaker.
  4. Then... to get my original cell to look like the one in #3, i have to do the following...
  5. Click the new cell once, and COPY the cell itself (not just the text)
  6. Then click once on my original cell, and PASTE.
  7. I finally have my exported data showing up properly in the original cell.

Obviously i'd like to see the results of #7 above right from the get-go.

Can you help??

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | MacOS

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  1. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 435K Reputation points
    2013-05-10T19:12:02+00:00

    The only time I've seen this happen to cells containing Text is if the cell is formatted using Accounting formatting. Based on that, I would assume that some types of custom formatting or Style may cause the same issue to occur.

    See if changing the format of the cell to Text makes any difference.

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  1. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 435K Reputation points
    2013-05-06T23:20:33+00:00

    Excel displays the symbols such as #,#### when a cell contains a formatted value too lengthy to be displayed based on the width of the column. This is a standard means of avoiding inadvertent displaying partial values [such as $1,000 instead of $1,000,000].

    Increase the column width, change the formatting or use a smaller font size.

    Other options might exist but with no idea what the nature of the data is, how it's being 'exported' or how it's being 'imported' it would be pointless to speculate.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-01-29T17:36:57+00:00

    Thanks for clarifying this, its been annoying me for ages!!

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-05-09T20:21:49+00:00

    One interesting thing is that my work partner on a PC does NOT get the hashtags in her Excel file, but i do on a Mac.  The same field is being exported in the same way on both computers in FileMaker 11.

    Here's sample text that comes over fine:

    Rebecca is an administrative assistant, audio/video specialist and dining room host. She has offered some cleaning and washing dishes at the local outlet. In her service profile she says "Offering service is a gift and blessing! It is golden, like the teachings in the books I read and contemplated." She lists 30 books she has read. Rebecca has been practicing since 2009.

    Source:  Service Profile

    Here's sample text that comes over as hashtags (although i can see it completely up in the formulae bar...

    Joannie Smith is a freelance translator. She has a degree in social communication and worked for many years in the publicity field. In Miami in 2005 she served as teacher's assistant at the children's group and for geography classes. In the 1980s she  offered valuable assistance in the bookstore.

    Source:  Service Profile

    So, you can see, the exported text is very similar, even in length.

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