Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2002 and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Changing Error Checking Rules.

Changing Error Checking Rules

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 20, 2019)
This tip applies to Excel 2002 and 2003


When Excel 2002 or Excel 2003 does background checking of your worksheet for errors, it follows a set number of rules. You can modify the rules that Excel follows through these steps:

  1. Choose Options from the Tools menu. Excel displays the Options dialog box.
  2. Make sure the Error Checking tab is displayed. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Error Checking tab of the Options dialog box.

  4. Make sure the Enable Background Error Checking check box is selected.
  5. Clear or set the checkboxes at the bottom of the dialog box, each of which specifies a different error-checking rule that Excel can follow.
  6. Click OK.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2370) applies to Microsoft Excel 2002 and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Changing Error Checking Rules.

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

Changing the Height of a Font

Scaling the width of a font is easy to do with Word's formatting capabilities. Scaling the height of the fonts is not so ...

Discover More

Creating Shortcuts

Shortcuts can be a great timesaver, allowing you to quickly access frequently used programs and files. This tip explains ...

Discover More

Determining the Size of a File

When processing a document using a macro, you may need to know the precise size of a particular file. The way you figure ...

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Calculating Monthly Interest Charges

Trying to calculate how much people owe you? If you charge interest or service charges on past-due accounts, there are a ...

Discover More

Fixing "Can't Find Files" Errors

If you get errors about unfindable files when you first start Excel, it can be frustrating. Here's how to track down and ...

Discover More

Inserting the User's Name in a Cell

Need to understand who is using a particular workbook? There are a number of ways you can find out, as discussed in this tip.

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 seven more than 7?

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.