# Solved: Increasing Columns in Excel



## shillguy (Mar 31, 2009)

I'm using MS Excel 2007 under Win7 Prof. 
In it, the columns visible in Excel are only upto 'IU', and all these columns are in use. Now, if I try to insert any more columns, the messages comes that "_to prevent possible loss of data, Excel cannot shift Non-blank columns off the worksheet". _
I'm stumped, and I need to increase the columns further and do not know how do I go about this.
Kindly Help.
Thanks in advance.


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

Have a read here 
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305568

What happens if you do [Control][End]

Do you have any hidden columns or merged cells



> To work around this issue, follow these steps:
> Locate the nonblank cell, row, or column that will be pushed off the sheet.
> 
> To determine where the nonblank cells are located, press CTRL+LEFT ARROW or CTRL+RIGHT ARROW. These key sequences find the next block of data or the end of a block of data.
> ...


Excel 2007 should now go upto column XFD (16384) and row 1048576 on Excel 2007.

See if you can move further by pressing ctrl+right arrow should goto Column XFD 
if not 
got to a new sheet and try ctrl+right arrow and see if a blank worksheet will allow you to move to Column XFD .


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## Keebellah (Mar 27, 2008)

Another possibility is that you *are* working in Excel 2007 but with the settings for 2003 and down, the so called compatability mode.
This will also restrict and at least warn when you exceed the IV1 limit set by the older versions.


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## slurpee55 (Oct 20, 2004)

I would bet it is the latter, Hans. 2003 only allows through column IV - no more. Since that is all Excel 2003 can handle, if they were all full and you attempted to insert a new column A, say, it would have to dump all the data in IV - thus the note and the refusal.

Shillguy, make sure that you aren't running in compatibility mode, as Hans said, and also make sure you only have Excel 2007 installed - if you have both 2003 and 2007 installed, the wrong one may be starting up for you (that is, 2003 when you want 2007.)


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## shillguy (Mar 31, 2009)

I checked it out, and yes, as you have pointed out, it is still running in the 2003 Compatible mode. 

If a new file is opened, it goes upto the column XFD, but when I tried to save my current file in the new format of .xlsx, the file is saved in this format but it refuses to go beyond the column IV. 

Kindly guide me further.


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## shillguy (Mar 31, 2009)

Thanks Guys!
When I rebotted my PC, the new file worked like a charm.


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