Knowledge Base

Moved Cell Contents in Shared Workbook May Be Lost

Article ID: 177373

Article Last Modified on 8/19/2003

Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition
Microsoft Excel 98 for Macintosh

This article was previously published under Q177373

SYMPTOMS

If you move a cell (by using the drag-and-drop feature or by using the Cut and Paste commands) in a shared workbook, the contents of the moved cell may be lost when you immediately save the shared workbook. This may occur even when you move the cell to a location that is not used for all users of the shared workbook.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs when the following conditions are true:

Both you and another user open the shared workbook. -and-
The other user clears the contents of a cell (points to Clear on the Edit menu and clicks Contents) and saves the shared workbook. -and-
You move the same cell (by using the drag-and-drop feature or by using the Edit and Paste commands) that was cleared by the other user and save the shared workbook.

RESOLUTION

Use the Copy and Paste commands to make a copy of the contents of the cell. You can clear the contents of the original cell. With the original cell selected, point to Clear on the Edit menu and click Contents to clear the contents of the original cell.

MORE INFORMATION

When you save a shared workbook, Microsoft Excel will update the changes from the last save on the shared workbook first and then save your changes. If a cell is cleared in the previous save and you moved that same cell, the cleared cell is moved to the new location.

REFERENCES

For more information about shared workbooks, click the Office Assistant, type "Shared Workbook," click Search, and then click to view "What you need to know about working in a shared workbook."

NOTE: If the Assistant is hidden, click the Office Assistant button on the Standard toolbar. If Microsoft Help is not installed on your computer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

120802 Office: How to Add/Remove a Single Office Program or Component

Additional query words: XL97 drag drop XL

Keywords: kbprb KB177373