Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Too Many Formats when Sorting.

Too Many Formats when Sorting

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 19, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365


Debi is running into a problem when she tries to sort her worksheet. Instead of doing the sort, she gets a message that says, "Too Many Different Cell Formats."

According to sources at Microsoft, this error occurs when your workbook gets close to exceeding one of the built-in limitations of Excel. A workbook can contain only about 64,000 "custom formats."

Custom formats are unique combinations of formatting attributes, applied to cells. For instance, let's say that you have two cells, both formatted for 10-pt. Arial type. Both use the same number format, and neither of them have borders applied. If you change the font size of one of the cells to 11-pt., then you now have two unique custom formats. If you copy the format of the 11-pt. cell to a third cell, you still have only two custom formats. But if you add a border to one of the 11-pt. cells, you now have three custom formats.

Basically, a custom format is any unique combination of things like typefaces, font sizes, colors, alignment, borders, or other cell attributes. If you have a workbook that has, say, 100 complex worksheets, then it is very possible to get close to the 64,000 custom-format limit.

There is only one way to correct the situation: Reduce the number of custom formats. Select a large block of cells in the workbook, display the Home tab of the ribbon, and then click Clear | Clear Formats (in the Editing group). If Excel won't let you do this even (perhaps you have put the workbook into an unstable state by having way too many custom formats), then you should copy the contents of your worksheets, one by one, to a new workbook. Make sure you use Paste Special to paste only the formulas, so that your formulas are preserved, and you don't copy formatting.

Even though Excel will handle quite a few custom formats, there is one potential "gottcha" that you should keep in mind. If you are creating a workbook that will be used in an older version of Excel (in Excel 2003 or earlier), then the limit on custom formats was only 4,000. You can easily pass that number in the newest versions of Excel, but if you do you won't be able to open the workbook in the older versions of Excel.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10398) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Too Many Formats when Sorting.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Determining an ANSI Value in a Macro

Need to know the character code used for a particular character? In a macro you can use the Asc function to determine the ...

Discover More

Ensuring Standard Units During Data Entry

Need to make sure that information entered in a worksheet is always in a given unit of measurement? It's not as easy of a ...

Discover More

Creating Long Page Footers

Ever wish that you could create nice, long footers that appear at the bottom of each page when you print your worksheet? ...

Discover More

Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2019 For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Creating a Sort Order

Excel is very flexible in how it can sort your data. You can even create your own custom sort order that is helpful when ...

Discover More

Automatically Sorting as You Enter Information

When entering information into a worksheet, you may want it to always be in a correctly sorted order. Excel allows you to ...

Discover More

Controlling Sorting Order

When you sort information in a worksheet, you have control over the order in which that information is sorted. Here's a ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 8 - 2?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.