Forum Discussion
Excel Subscripts/Superscripts
How does one retain subscripts and superscripts when copying or using a formula to copy text from one cell to another? For example, assume cell A1 contains the text "MSNp" where the "p" is subscripted. When I copy the value of A1 to another cell, or when I concatenate A1 with other cells, or when I use INDEX and MATCH to return a cell value that includes subscripted text such as "MSNp", the subscripted "p" is converted to a non-subscripted "p". My Excel file creates labels for ANOVA main effects through n-way interactions, so it is not practical to manually reset the subscripts for up to hundreds of text labels.
Regards,
Ted
6 Replies
Formulas referring to another cell just return the value of that cell, not its formatting.
And Excel does not support formatting part of the result of a formula different from the rest.
If you copy a cell and simply paste it into another cell, the formatting will be preserved. MSNp will remain MSNp
Thank you! You are correct. However, when say cell A2 uses the formula = A1, it loses the subscript format. Or when cell A2 uses a formula to obtain the value in cell A1, it also loses the subscript format.
Yes, that is what I tried to convey in my previous reply. A formula such as =A1 returns only the value of A1, not its formatting. If A1 contains MSNp, there is no way to make the p to be subscripted in the cell with the formula =A1
