{"id":1847,"date":"2022-08-07T10:34:23","date_gmt":"2022-08-07T07:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.addictivetips.com\/?p=386678https:\/\/www.addictivetips.com\/microsoft-office\/character-limit-cells-excel\/"},"modified":"2022-08-07T10:34:23","modified_gmt":"2022-08-07T07:34:23","slug":"how-to-add-a-character-limit-to-cells-in-excel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tojikon.net\/en\/1847-how-to-add-a-character-limit-to-cells-in-excel\/","title":{"rendered":"How to add a character limit to cells in Excel"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Excel sheet isn\u2019t always used to process data. The row and column layout is a useful way to present and manage a large amount of information and Excel\u2019s features make it possible to use a spreadsheet as a data collection tool.<\/p>\n

Excel offers some features that allow you to use it as a form that other users can fill in but if you have to enter instructions for filling the form in, into the spreadsheet, it\u2019s going to get messy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An easier way to make sure you get the right data is to add limits and restrictions to a cell. Any data or value that falls outside the limit will be rejected.<\/p>\n

Character limit for cells in Excel<\/h2>\n

You can set a character limit for cells in Excel. This limit works so that the value entered is a minimum number of characters long, or it is no longer than a certain number of characters.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s useful for when a user must input a phone number, or zip code, or similar.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Open the Excel file<\/strong> you want to add character limits to.<\/li>\n
  2. Select the cells\/columns\/rows<\/strong> that the limit will be added to.<\/li>\n
  3. Go to the Data tab.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  4. Click \u2018Data Validation\u2019<\/strong> button on the Data Tools toolbox.<\/li>\n
  5. Go to the Settings tab.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  6. Open the \u2018Allow\u2019 dropdown<\/strong> and select \u2018Text length\u2019.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  7. Open the \u2018Data\u2019 dropdown<\/strong> and select a limiting criteria.<\/strong> To limit it to a certain number, select \u2018Less than or equal to\u2019.<\/li>\n
  8. To set the maximum value, enter a value in the Maximum field.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  9. Click Ok.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

    Add tooltip for character limit<\/h3>\n

    A user won\u2019t be able to tell if a cell has a character limit so adding a tooltip will help them.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Select the cells\/columns\/rows<\/strong> with the character limit.<\/li>\n
    2. Go to the Data tab.<\/strong><\/li>\n
    3. Click Data Validation.<\/strong><\/li>\n
    4. Select the Input Message tab.<\/strong><\/li>\n
    5. Enable the \u2018Show input message when cell is selected\u2019 option.<\/strong><\/li>\n
    6. In the title field, enter a subject<\/strong> for the tooltip.<\/li>\n
    7. Enter a messag<\/strong>e in the \u2018Input message\u2019<\/strong> field.<\/li>\n
    8. Click OK.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

      Add error message<\/h3>\n

      When a user enters a value that does not meet the character limits of the cell, they will see an error. Unfortunately, the error message is generic and doesn\u2019t tell the user why the value wasn\u2019t excepted. You can modify it so the user knows what\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Select the cell\/column\/rows<\/strong> with the character limit.<\/li>\n
      2. Go to the Data tab<\/strong> on the ribbon.<\/li>\n
      3. Click Data Validation.<\/strong><\/li>\n
      4. Go to the Error Message box.<\/strong><\/li>\n
      5. Enable the \u2018Show error alert after invalid data is entered\u2019 option.<\/strong><\/li>\n
      6. Enter a title for the alert<\/strong> in the \u2018Title\u2019 field.<\/strong><\/li>\n
      7. Enter a message<\/strong> that tells the user what sort of data to enter in the Error Message field.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        \"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

        Conclusion<\/h2>\n

        You can add an upper, or lower character limit to cells, or enter a precise number of characters that a user must enter in order for the value to be accepted. Go through the various options and add the kind of data limit you need for a cell or column or row.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        An Excel sheet isn\u2019t always used to process data. The row and column layout is a useful way to present and manage a large amount of information and Excel\u2019s features make it possible to use a spreadsheet as a data collection tool. Excel offers some features that allow you to use it as a form …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23],"tags":[36],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tojikon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1847"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tojikon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tojikon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tojikon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tojikon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tojikon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tojikon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tojikon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tojikon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tojikon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}