Addressing AutoAdjusting Notes in Excel

In Excel, comments (now known as “notes”) can sometimes auto-adjust or resize unexpectedly when a file is opened. This issue, while manageable on Windows using Excel VBA, poses a significant challenge for Mac OS users. The root of the problem lies in the property .Shape.TextFrame.AutoSize = True, which is not available on Mac OS. This article explores a workaround to resolve this issue effectively for Mac OS users by leveraging VBA to create a normal rectangle shape that mimics the note’s appearance.

The Challenge

Excel notes are designed to dynamically adjust their size based on the content they contain. However, this automatic adjustment can often lead to notes resizing in an unwanted manner each time the workbook is opened. Windows users can address this issue using VBA by setting the .Shape.TextFrame.AutoSize property, but Mac OS lacks this feature, necessitating an alternative solution.

The Solution: Using VBA to Create and Size a Rectangle Shape

To resolve the issue of auto-adjusting notes on Mac OS, we can use a VBA script to create a rectangle shape that replicates the note’s content and formatting. This rectangle shape can then be auto-fitted to the text, and its dimensions can be used to set the size of the original note. Here’s a step-by-step guide to implementing this solution:

Extract the Text from the Note
Use VBA to retrieve the text content from the note you want to resize.
Create a Rectangle Shape
Generate a new rectangle shape in the same worksheet. This shape will temporarily hold the text from the note.
Set Text and Formatting
Apply the same font, font style, and font size to the text within the rectangle shape to ensure it matches the original note’s appearance.
Auto-Fit the Rectangle Shape
Use the .AutoSize method to adjust the rectangle’s size to fit the text.

Apply the Dimensions to the Note: Finally, use the dimensions (width and height) of the rectangle shape to set the size of the note.

Implementation Notes

Font Consistency
Ensure that the font name, size, and style (bold, italic, etc.) applied to the rectangle shape match those of the original note for accurate resizing.
Temporary Shapes
The script creates and deletes a temporary shape, ensuring no unnecessary objects remain in the worksheet.
Platform Compatibility
While the script is designed with Mac OS in mind, it works seamlessly on Windows OS as well, making it a versatile solution.

Conclusion

By creating a normal rectangle shape and transferring the note’s text and formatting to this shape, we can effectively auto-fit and size notes in Excel on Mac OS. This method circumvents the limitation of the missing .Shape.TextFrame.AutoSize property and provides a reliable way to manage note sizes across different platforms. Implementing this VBA script ensures your notes remain appropriately sized, enhancing readability and maintaining the intended layout of your Excel workbooks.

FAQs

Click File > Options > Proofing >AutoCorrect Options.

1) Right click the cell with your comment and choose 'edit comment'. 2) Click on the border of the comment box (your cursor needs to look like a skinny cross with arrows on each arm), then right click and choose 'format comment'. 3) On the Alignment tab, tick 'Automatic size'.

If you need to edit the note, right-click the cell, and then click Edit Comment. If you're using Excel for Office 365, right-click the cell and choose Edit Note. If you need to delete the note, right-click the cell and choose Delete Comment.

On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Keyboard in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.) Go to Text Input, then click Edit. Turn on Correct spelling automatically, then click Done.

On the Home tab, in the Cells group, select Format. Under Cell Size, do one of the following: To automatically adjust the row height, select AutoFit Row Height. To specify a row height, select Row Height, and then type the row height that you want in the Row height box.

Launch each Office app installed on your Mac, click on the application name (eg Word) menu and choose Sign Out of each application. Then quit all Office applications. Empty the Trash, then restart your Mac and launch an Office application to check if you can now edit documents.

If you need to discuss data with other people, then use a comment. Notes (formerly called "comments" in earlier versions of Excel) don't have a Reply box. Notes are just for adding annotations or reminders in cells. If you don't need to have a discussion about the data, then use a note.

Select the part of the worksheet you want to format. 2. Choose Format > AutoFormat (Figure 8) to display the AutoFormat dialog (Figure 81).

Excel for Mac has a limited range of data connections (for connecting to external data) compared to Excel for Windows. With Excel for Mac, you are essentially limited to ODBC SQL, HTML, Text and Database (Microsoft Query).

First select the cell that has the formula you want to fill, then select the cells underneath it, and then press Ctrl+D. You can also press Ctrl+R to fill the formula to the right in a row. First select the cell that has the formula you want to fill, then select the cells to the right of it, and then press Ctrl+R.

AutoCorrect fixes errors in a formula's text, worksheet control, text box, and chart labels. Here's how to use it: Click File > Options. Under the Proofing category, click AutoCorrect Options, and check the most likely typing errors.

for Excel on Mac, select the Excel menu > Preferences > Error Checking.