Undoing Smart Tag Exclusions

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 9, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2002 and 2003


Lora is using frequently uses the Smart Tags feature of Excel for financial symbols. In the Smart Tags context menu, she selected to stop recognizing a specific set of letters as a financial symbol, since the letters were the same as the initials of her assistant. Now that the assistant is no longer with the company, Lora wants Excel to recognize these letters as a financial symbol again.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to do this. When you excluded the letters, they were added to a file called ignore.xml. You can locate this file using the Search feature in Windows, and then you can edit it using either Word or your favorite text editor, such as Notepad. You need to be careful, however; if you mess up the file by deleting something you shouldn't (or leaving in something you shouldn't), then the Smart Tags that you previously excluded may not work properly. For this reason, it would be prudent to make a backup copy of the file before you edit it.

Once the file is open, search for the letters you no longer want excluded. Delete the entire XML item tag to which the letters belong. You can then save the file and reopen Excel. If everything went well, the letters should again be recognized with a Smart Tag.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3094) applies to Microsoft Excel 2002 and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Enlarging Screen Font Size

Sometimes things appearing on the screen are a bit too small to read easily. One possible solution is to adjust the size ...

Discover More

Using Dynamic Chart Titles

Want the title of your chart to change based upon what is placed in a worksheet cell? It's easy; just add a formula to ...

Discover More

Quickly Inserting the Date Your Way

Tired of messing with inserting the date and then changing it to a format that is more to your liking? There's a quick ...

Discover More

Save Time and Supercharge Excel! Automate virtually any routine task and save yourself hours, days, maybe even weeks. Then, learn how to make Excel do things you thought were simply impossible! Mastering advanced Excel macros has never been easier. Check out Excel 2010 VBA and Macros today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Making Revisions

You've turned on Highlight Changes, but how do you know what has been changed? This tip explains how Excel displays those ...

Discover More

Using Revision Tracking

Want to keep track of the changes other people make to your workbook or even your own changes? Excel makes gathering this ...

Discover More

Creating Dependent Drop-Lists

Drop-down lists are handy in an Excel worksheet, and you they can be even more handy if a selection in one drop-down ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 2 + 8?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.