XL2000: CTRL+SHIFT+" Keyboard Shortcut Limited to 1,024 Characters

If you press CTRL+SHIFT+" (quotation mark) to copy a cell value, the value that you paste into the active cell may contain fewer characters than the value that you copied.

The CTRL+SHIFT+" keyboard shortcut, which is designed to copy the value (not the formula) from the cell above the active cell into the active cell or formula bar, is limited to copying 1,024 characters.

To work around this behavior, copy the value and then use the Paste Special command. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell to be copied.
2. On the Edit menu, click Copy.
3. Select the cell in which you want to paste the value.
4. On the Edit menu, click Paste Special.
5. In the Paste Special dialog box, click Values, and then click OK.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

In Microsoft Excel 2000, the limit to the number of text characters that you can type in a cell has increased to 32,767 characters. Although the CTRL+SHIFT+" keyboard shortcut works as described in this article, the shortcut is designed to copy only the first 1,024 characters in the cell.

For more information about keyboard shortcuts, click Microsoft Excel Help on the Help menu, type Keyboard shortcuts in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.