Delete Cell errors

How performing a delete cell in Excel can results in errors in not only that cell but other cells within the spreadsheet.

Delete Cell errors

DELETING individual cells and moving their relative position can also have a serious effect and result in  situations that cause delete cell errors.

Again here’s a very simple spreadsheet, what you’ve got here is the Gross Profit being calculated by subtracting Cost of Sales from Sales, and that flows all the way through.
As you are typing, you forgot and you actually put Product B’s sales into Product C as well and you typed on. So you realize that F12 needs to go, what you can do is

  • you can delete just that cell,
  • it’ll say what must I do with that cell?
  • you’ll say you’ll say shift that cell left please
  • you’ll say ok,
  • now what you’ll do is you’ll immediately pick up there’s a problem here. Because for what ever reason Excel is saying that formula no longer exits,
  • What people how ever forget is that not only does it affect that cell, but it affects this cell as well, and as a result you actually have a bit of an error over here.

And again you need to be very careful when deleting individual cells and moving the relative position of it. I don’t recommend you do it at all, but if you are going to, it make use of the Auditing Toolbar and look around the deleted area, just to see how the various formula have reacted