Paste Special Function

[Steven D]

I often have to copy information to a new excel sheet and keep the column
length. When trying to use the Paste Special function I sometimes get a page
with paste as Unicode Text or Text, sometimes I get a few more choices (I
think one of them is picture) and sometimes I get (what I want) where I have
many choices of what/how I want to copy which includes a radio button for
columns (I think it also includes rows, formulas and other useful things).

Why do I get different things and what can I do to get the page with the
many radio buttons?

 

[Sheeloo]

The choices you get depend on what you have copied.

Usually if you copy from an Excel sheet you get all the choices. If you copy
outside Excel then you get choices like 'paste as unicode', 'paste as
HTML',... etc.

 

[Roger Govier]

Hi

Not always the case.
I have recently started to experience this in both Xl2003 and XL2007.
The usual culprit is having 2 instances of Excel open at the same time.

I get it happening when I have a single instance of Excel running, (checked
through task manager to ensure there is a single instance of Excel.exe), and
I have yet to find what causes it to happen.

It is happening at the moment for me.
If I close Excel and start again, then it is usually OK, but will
(randomly?) misbehave again.
I have searched Google and found not found a solution yet.

 

[Gord Dibben]

If you have two instances of Excel running with a workbook in each, you will
get the paste special>unicode, text etc. dialog.

Close one instance of Excel and open both workbooks in one instance.

If copying from a source other than Excel, unicode, text etc. dialog is all
you will get.

No way to change that.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

 

[Steven D]

Thank you. It seems that using the one instance is what I needed to do.

 

[Dale McInnis]

Gord
I have double checked and I am only running 1 instance of excel and still
only get the unicode dialog box for the paste special option. All I am
attempting to do is copy a cell within the same excel spreadsheet to another
cell. How can I get the old paste special options back?

 

[Roger Govier]

Hi Dale

I have been experiencing the same problems recently, and have not been able
to discover what causes it.
Saving data and re-starting Excel, usually returns me to the proper state.
What later triggers the later change which sometimes happens, I have not yet
figured out.

 

[Gord Dibben]

Roger/Dale

I'm running Excel 2003 and have not seen the problem when copy/paste within
the same workbook.


Gord

 

[Dave Peterson]

If you look at Tools|Addins and uncheck all your helpful addins, does it work ok
when you test it?

(Remember to write down the ones you've enabled so you can isolate the problem.)