Move after enter

[jmw]

On the whole, the more I use Excel the more impressed with it I am as a powerful and flexible tool.

But, and there is always a "but", there are some irritations.

I am using Excel 2003.

When you enter data in a cell and click enter, the cursor then moves to the next cell below it.
OK, but I don't want it to move. I want it to stay in the same cell when I click enter.

So I go to options, edit and uncheck the tick box beside the "Move selection after enter" box.
That should do it?

No.

The trouble is the only difference between checking and unchecking the "Move selection after enter" is that with it unchecked it takes a second or two to think about it and then jumps to the next cell anyway.

It is relevant that I also have the sheet protected (and have selected to check only the "select unlocked cells" check box) because it works when the sheet is unprotected but not when it is protected.

Anyone else encountered this and know how to overcome it? A google search hasn't helped.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[IRstuff]

Unchecking the box works for me; that's the very first thing I do on a new install, from Excel 97 to Excel 2007; it's always worked.

It sounds to me like that's a side effect of the protected cells structure.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[Latexman]

Unchecking the tick box has always worked for me too.

Good luck,
Latexman

 

[macmet]

...and for me too.

It is one of the features I customize the most.

 

[TomBarsh]

I also have never had a problem with this function. I also set it so the cursor or active cell never changes after I press Enter. And I use protected sheets all the time.

Could be that your system is not correctly applying that setting, which might be the case if your user account doesn't have the correct "rights" for that setting. Especially if using the older 2003 version on newer Vista or Windows 7 operating systems.

 

[Latexman]

Corrupted? Reload your Excel. That should fix it.

Good luck,
Latexman

 

[jmw]

I doubt it is corrupted.
I tried detect and repair.... but maybe there is another option.
I've found some indications of VB solutions.
The problem comes when I select protect sheet and select the select unlocked cells option.
I have some cells locked and some unlocked.

So, I took a new workbook, selected all the cells and unlocked all.
I then protect sheet and pick any cell. When I hit enter it jumps to A1.
The Move after enter works fine when unprotected.
If I select any cells and lock them then the behaviour follows the Move After Enter behaviour as if checked.
So if I check MAE and select go right then uncheck it, it comes up with some weird behaviour.
I have four blocks of cells protected and arranged in a square.
Hitting enter again and again, cursor movement is only within the boundaries of the extremities of the locked cells area.
Now it may be there is a corruption after all.
This is Excel 2003 so it may not affect any of your guys with later versions.
If any of you have 2003 I'd appreciate you checking this out for me.


JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[jmw]

To make life easier I coloured the locked cells and left a border of unlocked cells all round.
I can select any cell within the pattern and enter steps me through all the unlocked cells upto and including all the cells above the locked cells and to the left of the locked cells and out to the column and row that border the locked cells.

So I have four equal locked cell blocks:
Block 1: columns D to G, rows 5-12
Block 2: columns K to N, rows 5-12
Block 3: columns D to G, rows 18-25
Block 4: columns K to N, rows 18-25

Starting anywhere within this group and hitting Enter, it steps from A1 to O26 avoiding locked cells.
If I select a cell outside the boundaries:

Pick any cell in any row after row 25 and before column O: it steps along the row (I would have step right if I had Move After enter selected) until it reaches column O and then it starts at A1 again.
Pick any cell in a column to the right of O:....
and it seems to be learning new aberrant behaviour.... [PC]

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[IDS]

JMW - Excel 2010 seems to work the same way as you describe. I hadn't seen this before because I don't use the option to not allow selection of locked cells.

A quick search found several questions raising the same problem, but no answers (or even responses), but I didn't spend long looking.

It seems to me that the easiest solution would be to allow selection of locked cells.

Doug Jenkins
Interactive Design Services

http://newtonexcelbach.wordpress.com/

 

[Nella95]

You don't mean you want the ALT-<enter> function, do you? Where the cell remains editable, but moves to the next line in that cell?

 

[jmw]

No, I enter data or change a selection in a drop down and I want the cursor to remain there. Users may try different values or different calculation modes and it is too easy to corrupt other entries if the cursor moves to another cell.

This seems to be an issue. Excel can't handle this function and the select unlocked cells when the worksheet/book is protected.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com