Forum Discussion
Maximum number of characters in a cell
Hi, How can i get a maximun of characters in a cell? Is that possible in Excel?
Thanks
7 Replies
Microsoft Excel has a character limit of 32,767 characters in each cell.
If you are asking how many characters can you enter in a cell, the answer is a lot more than just 255, depending on your version of Excel. Allan Wyatt says 32,767 with some caveats (https://excel.tips.net/T003163_Character_Limits_for_Cells.html). I frequently display more than 255 characters in a cell, though to do so usually means using Word Wrap and smaller font.
If you are asking how to determine the maximum number of characters in a cell from a range of cells, such as
A1 = abcd
A2 = abc
A3 = abcdedf
A4 = abcdedfghij
then you can use an array formula such as {=MAX(LEN(A1:A4))}
If you are asking how to restrict a cell to a maximum number of characters, then the answer is to use Data > Data Validation and choose "Text Length" from the Allow field.
- You can type upto 255 characters in a cell (including spaces). To find length (characters entered) of that cell, you can use function 'LEN()'.
Hi Harsha, you can use LEN() funciton for this purpose. Please note that it will include spaces into the count.
With only one exception if no special format is applied to the cell. For exmple, if in the cell is the number 3.14 LEN() on it returns 4. If you format it as 3.1400 the LEN also will be 4.
Same with text. If in the cell is the text "abcd" the LEN is 4. If you apply to this cell format like "Here is"@ the LEN also returns 4.
- Also, if the character ( ' ) is used as the first character in the cell, it will not be counted in length.
Example, the length of '123 will be counted as 3.
Vijaykumar Shetye,
Spreadsheet Excellence,
Panaji, Goa, India
