paste parses like data import wizard instead of just pasting

[Gates Is Antichrist]

After doing a Text to Columns operation it seems that everything you paste from outside gets the same parsing treatment. Thus when I paste external data into a single cell, Excel is rudely spreading it over several cells instead of just the one. Simple example: type a b c in notepad (note 2 embedded spaces) and copy the 5 characters and paste in cell A1. Do data/text/delimited and check "space" as delimiter, and finish. If I described it correctly, A1..C1 will contain 1 letter each.

Now go back to notepad, copy it, and paste to cell D4. Does it spread across 3 cells for you without asking, as I'm getting in XL03?

What I want is a way to turn off the automatic parsing, if anyone knows how. Restarting Excel is the best I've got so far.

(Did I say "rudely" before? Oh, I meant to say "courteously." I'm so grateful when Microsoft makes my decisions for me! After all, the world is nothing but cattle and level 1 support material "We don't care! We don't have to! We're the phone company! Snort!"

 

[Smitty]

Restarting Excel is the best I've got so far.

And that's the best you're going to get.

The only way to reset it is to restart.

HTH,

Smitty

 

[Gates Is Antichrist]

Okay. Thank you as always for your prolific accurate, diligent, and courteous assistance, Smitty.

 

[Datsmart]

You can re-open Text to Columns and uncheck "Space" and hit cancel.
That will now allow normal copy/paste.

 

[Gates Is Antichrist]

Thank you John, and similar sentiments to above. As that workaround goes, it seems that you have to uncheck everything; if you uncheck space and leave semicolon on, it still parses semicolons.

It is interesting though that it saves your "unchecking" since changing "delimited" to "fixed width" and canceling achieved nothing.