Microsoft Excel displays #### as a placeholder when the columns are not wide enough to show the full contents of the cells. But what exactly does this cryptic #### symbol mean and why does it appear in Excel spreadsheets? This article provides a deep dive into the meaning, causes, and fixes for those number signs showing up in your Excel cells.
Overview of #### in Excel
The #### placeholder in Excel signifies that cell data has been truncated or cut-off due to narrow column widths. Those number signs take the place of the actual contents that cannot fully fit in the current column.
For example, if a cell contains the text “Quarterly Earnings Report” but the column can only display “Quarterly Ear” before being cut off, Excel will show #### instead of just ending the text abruptly mid-cell.
In Excel terms, #### is known as a fill character – it fills up the cell space when the true contents overflow past the column borders. Some key characteristics of #### include:
-
is not the real data, just a visual representation of where text or values have been truncated
- The number of number signs shown corresponds to the number of cut-off characters
- It appears as a last resort when cell contents exceed the column width
- You’ll see #### in cells, but not in the formula bar when editing the cell
- The #### placeholders will disappear once you widen the columns sufficiently
So in essence, #### is Excel’s way of visually signaling that your column widths are too narrow for the data the cells contain. It does not indicate an error or display actual numeric values.
Why #### Appears in Excel Spreadsheets
So why does this #### fill character show up in the first place?
It all comes down to cell contents exceeding the standard width that Excel assigns to new columns.
The default width for new columns in Excel is 8.43 characters. This allows for numerical data and short text strings to fit, but often becomes too cramped when lengthy text, merged cells, or long formulas occupy the columns.
Rather than simply cutting off the cell data mid-character when it spills past the narrow column borders, Excel displays those distributional #### placeholders.
This gives a clear visual indication that there is more data in the cell than what is currently visible. #### shows there is additional content rather than just leaving cells looking empty or ending abruptly without warning.
Some common situations where you may encounter #### in a spreadsheet:
- Columns containing long text strings that far exceed 8 characters
- Merged cells that combine data from multiple columns
- Column headings, labels, or descriptive text that are wider than the column
- Dates and times that have additional formatting applied
- Formulas with lengthy results that do not fit the standard width
- Data imported from other sources into skinny columns
- Any cell contents wider than 8.43 characters (standard column width)
When Excel detects cell contents that are too wide for the existing column width, it triggers the #### placeholders as a warning sign rather than just cutting off the data mid-cell unexpectedly.
How to Remove or Get Rid of #### in Excel
Once those pesky #### characters show up in your spreadsheet, there are a few techniques you can use to banish them:
Adjust Column Width
The most straightforward and reliable approach is to simply increase the width of the columns where #### is appearing. This provides more room for the full cell contents to be displayed.
You can manually drag the right border of the column header to make it wider or double-click the right border to automatically resize the column to match the longest cell.
Widening columns removes the need for the #### truncation indicators and gives cells enough space to display their complete uncut contents. Just be careful not to make columns excessively wide and create too much empty space.
Wrap Text in Cells
If you don’t want to alter column widths, another option is to wrap text within the cells.
This allows long text strings to take up multiple lines, preventing the #### placeholders from appearing.
To wrap text, select the cells, go to Home > Alignment > Wrap Text. This stops text from being cut off and forces it to wrap to the next line within the cell.
Shorten Cell Contents
You can also edit the actual data contained in the cells to be more concise. This may help long cell contents fit within the current column width.
For example, you may be able to shorten lengthy labels, abbreviate text descriptions, reduce decimal places of figures, or delete extraneous data.
Trimming the fat from bloated cells can be an easy fix to eliminate those pesky number signs, as long as it doesn’t sacrifice valuable data.
Change Font, Size or Number Formatting
Subtle changes to the font, font size or number formatting of cells can sometimes help their contents fit into cramped columns.
Solutions like decreasing the font size, using a narrower font, reducing decimal places, or formatting as text instead of general numeric can allow cell data to fit into the same tight columns without #### filling up space.
Key Takeaways and Summary
To recap, the key points to remember about #### in Excel:
- It’s not actual cell data, just a placeholder for cut-off contents
- Appears when columns are too narrow to fully display cell contents
- Number of # reflects how many characters are truncated
- Widen columns, wrap text, edit data, or tweak formatting to remove ####
- Indicates column width needs increased to fit cell data
Bottom Line
In Conclusion, those mystifying number signs are just Excel’s way of visually indicating that your column widths are insufficient. #### is essentially a warning flag signaling that cell contents have spilled over and been cut off.
The easiest fix is nearly always to simply expand the column widths until #### disappears and cells have enough room to present their full unbroken data. So don’t be alarmed when #### shows up – just know it means your columns have become too slender to properly contain those broad cell contents!
