If you open an attachment from within your email program and then save it, the file may seem to have disappeared. Similarly, files you download from the web can be hard to find if you don't know. Nov 21, 2012 The file is usually in a shared network folder. He had created a folder with his own name on the network share and that's where the file was located. Late morning today, after having worked on the file earlier this morning, he tried opening the file and the file had disappeared.
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Microsoft Excel application designs spreadsheets, tables and documents. Data can be entered in several ways to create formulas and charts formatted in varying sizes, colors and layouts. With the freedom to format and customize data, spreadsheets and documents are simple to create and design. However, changing some file properties and formatting options may occasionally cause data to disappear.
Format Conversions
Excel offers different spreadsheet, basic text and Web page file formats to save your work. Often, saving a spreadsheet in a different format can lead to missing data. Because basic text formats display only text and values, changing the format of a spreadsheet to a text makes all calculations and other data disappear. If the spreadsheet format must be changed, create ample room for the columns and rows are spacious and remove all calculations. If a spreadsheet is being shared on multiple computers, saving the file in “Compatibility Mode” will prevent data from being lost if the file is opened with a different version of Excel.
Merging Cells
When cells are merged in an Excel document, two or more cells are combined, making one large cell. For example, merging cells along the top of the sheet to insert a title makes a document easier to read and allows the text to fit correctly on the page. However, when cells are merged, the text from the top left cell is displayed and all other text is deleted. If other cells are populated with data when they were merged, the data is erased and disappears. Cells can be unmerged, but the data in the other cells won't reappear.
Unsaved Work
Whenever new data is entered in an Excel file, the work must be saved before closing or any updated information won't appear in the spreadsheet. Unfortunately, if the power goes out or you accidentally choose “No” when Excel prompts you to save the file, entered but unsaved data disappears from the spreadsheet. Turning on the AutoSave or AutoRecover feature can help recover some data. This feature periodically saves entered data without being prompted. The interval for this feature can be changed in the settings, but a lower number may slow down the program.
Cell Formatting
Excel has several formatting features to make documents and charts simple to create and understand. Cells can be customized to display different sizes and colors, while the text can also be changed to display different colors, sizes and calculations. While all of these options are helpful, you can change data by mistake, and adjusting the color, size or calculation of entered data may cause the text to disappear. Although the information may still exist in the cell, white text will not display in a white cell, large text won't appear in a very small cell and a calculation that doesn't make sense will display only errors.
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Hemmer, Amber. 'Data Disappears in Excel.' Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/data-disappears-excel-37243.html. Accessed 18 October 2019.
Hemmer, Amber. (n.d.). Data Disappears in Excel. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/data-disappears-excel-37243.html
Hemmer, Amber. 'Data Disappears in Excel' accessed October 18, 2019. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/data-disappears-excel-37243.html
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Gridlines are faint lines that act like cell dividers in MS Excel. They distinguish cells from each other and make data in them more legible.
By default the gridlines are active on Excel. But depending on the kind of a data a worksheet contains, it may not have the gridlines. As a result, it could become difficult for you to read across the rows. Here’s how gridlines appear if you haven’t see them.
Let us learn few things that we should look at if the gridlines are missing and we want to bring them back.
1. Show Gridlines
MS Excel provides an option to hide gridlines for users who do not like them. In your case, the hide feature may have been activated by mistake.
If you want them to reappear, navigate to View tab and make sure the option Gridlines is checked under section Show.
2. White Gridlines
By default Excel assigns a greyish shade to the gridlines. Ensure that the color has not been changed to white. On a white background, white gridlines are bound to hide themselves.
Follow these steps to change the color to default again:-
Step 1: Go to File -> Options.
Step 2: Now click on Advanced and scroll to the section that reads Display options for this worksheet.
Step 3: From the dropdown for Gridline color choose the Automatic option. This is where you may select different colors if you wish to.
3. White Borders
Your gridlines may have the correct property set and they may also be marked for visibility. But, what if they are hidden by white colored cell borders. The best thing here is to remove the cell borders.
Step 1: Press Ctrl + A to select all the cells. Right-click and choose Format Cells.
Step 2: Go to the Border tab and make sure none of the borders are active.
4. Color Overlay
Sometimes you may highlight blocks of data by different colors to make them distinct from the rest. When colors are overlaid, gridlines hide under them. If you do not see any color there are chances that the overlay color selected is white.
Step 1: Press Ctrl + A to select all the cells.
Step 2: Go to Home tab and change the color fill option to No Fill.
5. Conditional Formatting
There are chances that some kind of conditional formatting has been applied on the worksheet to hide the gridlines.
So, navigate to Home -> Styles -> Conditional Formatting -> Clear Rules.
Note: Clearing rules will clear all other rules along with the one you are trying to remove. It is better to go to Manage Rules and find out from the details if there is such a setting. If yes, remove the specific formatting.Bonus: Screen Properties
None of the above seem to work for you? Try and play around with the brightness and contrast of your screen. I know it sounds absurd but at times, this could well be the reason behind those missing gridlines.
Conclusion
Next time if you do not see gridlines on your worksheet you know what to do. Also, remember that these settings apply to one sheet (selected sheet) at a time.
Tip: You may apply the settings to multiple sheets at once. To do that hold the Ctrl key and select multiple tabs. Then try any of the above.Also See#msexcel #How-to/Guides
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