Embedded Textbox Legacy Tools: How to Remove in Excel

To remove an accidentally embedded Excel text box, you can follow these steps:

1. Locate the Text Box: First, navigate to the worksheet where the text box is located. You might see a small dotted border around the text box, which indicates that it's an embedded object.

2. Select the Text Box: Click and drag the dotted border to select the text box. If you can't see the dotted border, you can still select the text box by clicking anywhere within its boundaries.

3. Delete the Text Box: Once selected, press the Delete key on your keyboard. If you don't see the Delete key, you can right-click the text box and select Delete from the context menu.

However, if you've already tried to delete the text box and received an error message like "Formula missing range or reference defined name", it's likely that the text box is linked to a formula. In this case, you'll need to unlink the text box before you can delete it.

1. Select the Text Box: Again, click and drag the dotted border to select the text box.

2. Unlink the Text Box: Right-click the text box and select Format Text Effects from the context menu. In the dialog box that appears, click on the Text Box tab, and then click on the Text Box button in the Properties section. In the Text Box dialog box, click on the None button under Link to Content. Click OK to close all dialog boxes.

3. Delete the Text Box: Now that the text box is unlinked, you can delete it as described in step 3 above.

Remember, it's always a good idea to save your work frequently while working in Excel to avoid losing any changes.

Here's a summary of the steps:

1. Locate the text box.
2. Select the text box.
3. If the text box is linked to a formula, unlink it before deleting.
4. Delete the text box.

References:

• Microsoft Excel Help: Delete a text box
• Microsoft Excel Help: Link or unlink a text box