This operation requires the merged cells to be identically sized

**andrew c.** · 07-07-2011, 04:57 PM

I am getting this error when I select a merged cell and an adjacent cell and try to drag them down the page (the lower right hand corner grab, to have it extend the formulas into the cells you drag over)

I only see the solution to remove the merged cells, but I cannot remove the merged cells, as it would disturb the formatting of the spreadsheet.

I can select the merged cell and drag it individually, but just not when I select the merged cell in addition to other cells. How do I go about fixing this, so I can select the merged cells and the adjacent non merged cells and drag down the page.

-Andrew

**davegugg** · 07-07-2011, 05:06 PM

Is there a reason you need to merge cells? Most people avoid it because they can be difficult to work with, as you've clearly noticed. In general, I manage to avoid merging cells, though some times in seems impossible. Don't forget you can format "Center Across Selection" to center info across multiple cells, and you can adjustment the row height to change how much text you can fit.

**andrew c.** · 07-07-2011, 06:59 PM

[QUOTE=davegugg;2559044]Is there a reason you need to merge cells? ?QUOTE]

Hi Dave,

In order to have the header formatted properly, the original author of the sheet merged the cells below. He just created the visual appearance of the sheet, and I have been adding functionalities to the sheet in visual basic.

Unfortunately, I have already coded probably over 1,000 lines of code (I'm not joking haha) into the sheet, where I reference cells based on columns, and I don't want to go ruin all of my code if I un-merge my cells and try to reformat the sheet. I would have done this is the beginning if I would have known it would be an issue.

Is there a way to work around it?

**martindwilson** · 07-07-2011, 07:59 PM

afik un merging cells shouldn't affect any code, merge a1 to c1, then only a1 exists you cant access b1 or c1

**andrew c.** · 07-08-2011, 03:04 PM

Originally Posted by martindwilson

afik un merging cells shouldn't affect any code, merge a1 to c1, then only a1 exists you cant access b1 or c1

I'm not quite following what you are saying?

I need these cells to be merged for formatting reasons. If I unmerged them and deleted the extra cells and just stetched the remaining one, it would mess up my codes. There are times when I reference going from column B to M, but if I delete columns, then it pulls everything over 1 column and messes up my reference in the code. So if I delete one column, then slecting B to M would be like selecting B to N.

Do you follow what I am saying?