Data Validation Circles Blank Cells Even With 'Ignore Blanks' checked

[EvonS]

I have a large spreadsheet that I have pasted values into from another worksheet (I literally used 'paste values' from the context menu). The sheet I'm pasting into is set up with drop down menus that the data i'm pasting needs to match. I am attempting to us data validation circles to find the items that don't match my drop-down list but Excel keeps circling cells that are blank even though the 'ignore blank' option is checked. Here's what I've tried:

1. The circle clears when I press 'delete' in one of these circled cells but it's far too many cells for me to do that manually.
2. =code('cell reference') returns '#value' which i believe means the cell is blank
3. When I copy a particular column, paste it into notepad, then paste it back into excel, that clears the circle. But, again, this will take too long to do.
4. I also tried copying the contents of the 'blank' cells and using find/replace with no success.

Thanks in advance for the help

Sincerely,

Evon

 

[Fluff]

Duplicate https://www.mrexcel.com/forum/excel...cles-blank-cells-post5362781.html#post5362781

Please do not post the same question multiple times. All clarifications, follow-ups, and bumps should be posted back to the original thread.
Per forum rules, posts of a duplicate nature will be locked or deleted (rule 12 here: Forum Rules).