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Too Many Different Cell Formats in Excel Error: Fix it
Using the Clean excess cell formatting might eliminate the error
6 min. read
Updated onNovember 6, 2023
updated onNovember 6, 2023
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Key notes
TheToo many different cell formatserror message is one that can pop up for some Microsoft Excel users when they try to add formatting to a spreadsheet cell (or cell range).
Or the error message might pop up when you try to copy cells and data from another spreadsheet file or source into a sheet.
Consequently, Excel users can’t apply further formatting to the spreadsheet when that error message pops up.
Thecell formatserror occurs when an Excel file reaches the maximum number of cell format combinations.
Excel 2003 users can add a maximum of 4,000 unique cell formatting combinations to a spreadsheet. You can apply 64,000 unique cell format combinations in later Excel versions.
Those might be large figures but remember that unique formatting counts any kind of cell formatting for fonts, borders, alignment, numbers, fill colors, etc. So a large spreadsheet might reach the max formatting amount.
Does theToo many different cell formatserror message pop up for one or more, of your Excel spreadsheets? If so, check out the “cell formats” error fixes below.
How do I fix common Excel cell format errors?
1. Clear all the spreadsheet’s cell formatting
Press theClearbutton to open the submenu in the snapshot directly below.
Wrong formatting can also cause
2. Repair the Spreadsheet With Stellar Repair for Excel
An Excel file might also be corrupted if thecell formatserror message pops up when you try to open it. You can fixcorrupted Excel spreadsheetswith the Stellar Repair for Excel software for Windows.
You can also try out a demo version of the software by clickingFree Download.
When you’ve installed and opened the software, you can clickSelect Fileto select the spreadsheet that might be corrupted.
ClickScanto start the scanning. After that, you’ll see a preview of the corrupted file; and can press theRepairbutton to fix it.
So that’s how you can fix theToo many different cell formatserror. Reducing unique cell formatting in spreadsheets will certainly resolve the issue when you can edit the sheets.
If you can’t open the file in Excel, check out the Style Reduction Tool and Stellar Repair for Excel software, or try editing the spreadsheet with an alternative application.
Stellar Repair
3. Add a standard font to all cells and remove fill colors
Clearing all a sheet’s formatting, however, might be a slightly drastic fix. If you prefer to retain some of the formatting in the spreadsheet, reducing the amount of unique cell formatting is a better fix.
One of the best ways to do that is to add a standardized font to the spreadsheet so that all the cells have the same font.
In addition, removing all separate fill colors in an Excel sheet might also reduce the amount of unique cell formatting.
4. Select the Clean Excess Cell Formatting option
Remember that blank Excel spreadsheet cells can also include formatting.
For example, a column will include the same font formatting in blank cells and those with data in them if you apply the same font to the whole column.
Thus, blank cells that aren’t in use can also increase the number of uniquely formatted cells andcause # Value error; read this guide to learn more about it.
As such, removing excess formatting from a spreadsheet is another potential resolution for the “cell formats” error.
You can do that quickly with the Inquire add-on’sExcess Cell Formattingoption. Inquire is an add-on in Excel 2013 and more recent versions.
5. Check out the Style Reduction Tool for Microsoft Excel
TheToo many different cell formatserror message might pop up when some users try to open a spreadsheet file.
Consequently, the Excel spreadsheet file doesn’t open, and the users can’t get rid of cell formatting as outlined above. In such circumstances, the Style reduction tool for Excel might be worth noting.
That’s a utility that fixes thecell formatserror by reducing duplicate formatting styles.
Click theDownloadbutton to save the software to a folder. Then open the Style reduction tool window shown below, and click theFilebutton to select the spreadsheet to fix.
Press theAnalyzebutton to scan for duplicate styles, and click Fix to remove the formatting.
6. Open the file in alternative spreadsheet software
Alternatively, you could try opening the Excel file in alternative software. Then, you might be able to open and apply more formatting to the spreadsheet in the alternative application without any issues.
There are numerous spreadsheet software tools that also support the Excel file format.LibreOffice Calcis one application that you can open Excel files in, and you can alsodownload that office suite.
More about the topics:Excel,Microsoft Office
Matthew Adams
Windows Hardware Expert
Matthew is a freelancer who has produced a variety of articles on various topics related to technology. His main focus is the Windows OS and all the things surrounding it.
He is passionate about the tech world, always staying up-to-date with the latest and greatest. With an analytical view, he likes problem-solving, focusing on errors and their causes.
In his free time, he likes to read and write about history and tries to always develop new skills.
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Matthew Adams
Windows Hardware Expert
He is passionate about everything surrounding Microsoft’s OS, focusing on troubleshooting guides & tips for everyday problems.
