"Fixed Objects will move" pop-up freezes Excel

Anonymous
2010-08-10T19:14:50+00:00

Spreadsheet opens and I can navigate for awhile and, for example, when I go to save the sheet the message pops up: Fixed Objects Will Move.  This freezes Excel and I use Task Mgr to "END" the Excel program

This spreadsheet was used for ten months, add a column per month in Excel 2007 - now, possibly since installing Excel 2010, I get this message.  I haven't noticed it in other spreadsheets.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2010-08-11T10:27:47+00:00

‘Fixed objects’ in Excel may refer to multiple items, such as comments, graphics, controls, etc.   Do you recall inserting any fixed object in the Excel sheet?   Try the following steps:   Note: Ensure to back-up the original file prior to performing the steps given below.

1)   Search the objects in the worksheet by pressing ‘F5’ to display the ‘Go To’ dialog box

2)   Click on ‘Special’ and select the ‘Objects’ radio button then click on OK

3)   This will select all the objects in the Excel sheet, you may delete them and verify the status

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Anonymous
2010-09-23T00:05:10+00:00

cell comments are not treated as Objects by Goto > Special > Objects

Use Tools > Options > View > Comments: Comments and Indicator (2003 or earlier)

or

Review > Show All Comments (2007 or later)

and you will be able to see where the comments are.

Bill Manville. Excel MVP, Oxford, England. www.manville.org.uk

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-11-25T19:12:56+00:00

    Re the suggestions above regarding comments and objects.  I got the same result i.e. no objects found when I searched the entire workbook, so I agree those suggestions while well meaning do not solve the problem, at least in the case of my problem file.  Later discovered a work around the worked for me but the reason it worked escapes me.

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-11-27T03:40:07+00:00

    This problem only exhibited istself if the 2010 version not the 2007 version or earlier.  This problem existed whether the base file was an .xls or .xlsx file format.  After seraching entire workbook found no objects at all in the file I kept trying things.  While still not sure what is going on I found a work around that worked on one file at least [have not tried others yet]  Take the following steps before trying to save the file:

    1. Click on "File"
    2. Click on "Info Tab"
    3. Left Click on "Check File Issues"
    4. Click "Inspect Document"
    5. Click "No" [Seems like it does nothing but must have some impact]
    6. Clickk "Inspect"
    7. Click "Close"
    8. "Save As *.xlsx" or "Save"

    I repated these steps several times with the same file and it appears to correct the problem in the file what ever it may be.  In this particular file it appeared to be a hold over from an old Lotus .WK4 file that had been converted to Excel years ago and upgraded numerous times.  Not sure if this is related or not but above fix corrected this one file.  Good luck!

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-06-06T22:24:36+00:00

    Thanks, PMH49, this is the only workaround that has worked for me.

    I use Windows 7 and a trial version of Office 2010... problems like this don't make it tempting to purchase when the trial ends.

    FYI to other users out there, Step 5 in the workaround above was not available in my version, but I skipped to step 6 and it worked fine. Also, the other workarounds indicated here (GoTo-Special-Objects and Review/Show All Comments did not work: GoTo went nowhere and Show All Comments showed nothing.)

    Good luck!

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