Newbie - Need help with zipcode format- no options for cell

L

lburg801

Help menu directs me to Format cells, where I am supposed to click an
find and select other options. There are none. Opened a blan
worksheet, followed these instructions and the other options appear
Not understanding what the problem is, I stumbled upons something tha
ultimately reinstalled Excel 2K hoping that if I had some how turne
off this feature for this worksheet, it would be restored. No luck
What is happening?

Thanks,
Trudy :confused
 
P

Phillycheese5

Not sure exactly what you're trying to do with the zip codes....bu
generally the issue is that the first zero doesn't stay after you typ
it in (or import). If you highlight an area, use the "format" menu
select "cells" and then on the "number" tab, select "text" to preserv
all characters you type, including zero. If you're importing, then yo
need to specify the column to be imported as text.
Hope this helps,
Phillychees
 
L

lburg801

Phillycheese5 said:
Not sure exactly what you're trying to do with the zip codes....bu
generally the issue is that the first zero doesn't stay after you typ
it in (or import). If you highlight an area, use the "format" menu
select "cells" and then on the "number" tab, select "text" to preserv
all characters you type, including zero. If you're importing, then yo
need to specify the column to be imported as text.
Hope this helps,
Phillycheese
Click to expand...

This is what Help tells me to do "Show numbers as a postal code, Socia
Security number, or phone number
Select the cells you want to format.


On the Format menu, click Cells, and then click the Number tab.
Show Me

In the Category list, click Special, and then select the format yo
want to use. "

I have inherited this job on an emergency basis and trying to learn a
I go. I think I may have done a general format for all columns
regarding them as text, and in doing so seem to have changed sometin
that created data for barcodes.

Thus I though that since zip-codes are handled in a special way b
Excel, I would return that format for that column. However, when I g
to Format>Cells, there is no arrow indicating there is a menu for thi
item, and indeed, when I click on it, it nothing happens.

On the other hand, if I bring up a totally new worksheet, all the step
described by Help exist.

And as a newbie to this forum as well as Excel, can you tell me if I a
supposed to enter infor for Title once again, as there is a blank fo
this. Hoping I'm doing the right thing by ignoring it, I plan to simpl
respond
 
D

DOR

Is your sheet protected? If it is, the Cells option on the Format menu
would be grayed out and would not respond to a click.

Click on Tools menu, then Options, then Unprotect. You may have to
supply a password.
 
C

Chip Pearson

Click on Tools menu, then Options, then Unprotect.

No need to click on Options. Protection is right on the Tools
menu.


--
Cordially,
Chip Pearson
Microsoft MVP - Excel
Pearson Software Consulting, LLC
www.cpearson.com
 
L

lburg801

First, thanks to everyone who has tried to help. Here are the conditions
I have encountered - Protection= all options flat and not selectable. In
a blank work sheet, all are, and it is also possible to bring up a
window with lots of opions to select for the type of data that will be
in that cell. BUT NOT IN THIS WORKSHEET. A little background - the
chruch secretary died and I am trying to help out in a crisis. Back in
the dark ages, I was a SAS programmer but as a result of brain trauma,
have only the memory of work that brought me much satisfaction.
Nonetheless, I still have that problem solving instinct that says
surely, with this worksheet that is basically a text database, I should
be able to ..... alas, I am stumped. Interestingly, at the bottom of the
Format menu is an item called style. There were only a few styles from
which to choose, but at the bottom of that window, one of the things
that could be selected (or not) was protection or lock. Maybe this
information will be of interest to you. What I have had to do is create
a database from scratch so as not to import any problems. Glad this
isn't a huge church. It will be a long night.

Trudy
 
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