Why does every TRUE value in your worksheet get a little purple triangle? You can thank some out-of-business company with the stock ticker of TRUE for that one. In Episode 340, we'll take a look at how to selectively turn off SmartTags for one company.
This blog is the video podcast companion to the book, Learn Excel from MrExcel. Download a new two minute video every workday to learn one of the 277 tips from the book!
This blog is the video podcast companion to the book, Learn Excel from MrExcel. Download a new two minute video every workday to learn one of the 277 tips from the book!
Transcript of the video:
Hey, Welcome back to the MrExcel podcast, I'm Bill Jelen.
Today I have a really obscure problem, I have a worksheet here, you see that we have some words TRUE and FALSE, and every time that I type the value TRUE, I'm getting a little Smart Tag that pops up there.
What's up with this?
Well, it turns out that the word TRUE is a financial symbol, a stock ticker symbol for a company that went out of business a few years ago.
But in Excel 2002 and Excel 2003, every time we type that word, we're getting that Smart Tag to pop up.
I've already turned it off on this computer, so I'm going to show you a different example.
If we type a valid stock ticker, like Microsoft or Intel, we get a little Smart Tag that pops up, it's a purple triangle in the lower-right hand corner.
And the trick to get rid of this for the TRUE, or for any stock tickers that you want to turn off is, you get near that purple triangle, and an information box pops up.
In the information box you can choose the down arrow and go to Stop Recognizing, in your case TRUE, as financial symbol, and that will permanently turn it off, so that way you can type the word TRUE.
Now this trick only works in Excel 2003, if you're using an older version of Excel, you need to go to Tools, AutoCorrect Options.
And your only choice is to go to the Smart Tag tab, and turn off financial symbols to permanently stop identifying all financial symbols as Smart Tags.
One of those annoying things that drives you crazy, TRUE and FALSE happens a lot in the spreadsheet.
And if you're really tired of the Smart Tag, Excel 2003 allows you to turn off just that one symbol.
In Excel 2002, you have to turn off the Smart Tags for all symbols.
Hey, thanks for stopping by, we'll see you next time for another podcast from MrExcel!
Today I have a really obscure problem, I have a worksheet here, you see that we have some words TRUE and FALSE, and every time that I type the value TRUE, I'm getting a little Smart Tag that pops up there.
What's up with this?
Well, it turns out that the word TRUE is a financial symbol, a stock ticker symbol for a company that went out of business a few years ago.
But in Excel 2002 and Excel 2003, every time we type that word, we're getting that Smart Tag to pop up.
I've already turned it off on this computer, so I'm going to show you a different example.
If we type a valid stock ticker, like Microsoft or Intel, we get a little Smart Tag that pops up, it's a purple triangle in the lower-right hand corner.
And the trick to get rid of this for the TRUE, or for any stock tickers that you want to turn off is, you get near that purple triangle, and an information box pops up.
In the information box you can choose the down arrow and go to Stop Recognizing, in your case TRUE, as financial symbol, and that will permanently turn it off, so that way you can type the word TRUE.
Now this trick only works in Excel 2003, if you're using an older version of Excel, you need to go to Tools, AutoCorrect Options.
And your only choice is to go to the Smart Tag tab, and turn off financial symbols to permanently stop identifying all financial symbols as Smart Tags.
One of those annoying things that drives you crazy, TRUE and FALSE happens a lot in the spreadsheet.
And if you're really tired of the Smart Tag, Excel 2003 allows you to turn off just that one symbol.
In Excel 2002, you have to turn off the Smart Tags for all symbols.
Hey, thanks for stopping by, we'll see you next time for another podcast from MrExcel!
