Issue
If you encounter the "Cell value is too long" limit, this error indicates that a cell value exceeds the platform’s character limit of 32,767 characters. Even though the character count is less than that.
Cause
Workiva spreadsheet cells have a limit of 32,767 bytes. While most characters use only one byte, many special or Unicode characters use more. Because of this, a cell may reach the byte limit even if it contains fewer than 32,767 characters. If this happens, users will see the "Cell Value is too long" error.
Commonly-used symbols requiring more than 1 byte in UTF-8 encoding
| Character | Unicode code point | Unicode name | UTF-8 byte size |
|---|---|---|---|
☑ | U+2611 | Ballot box with check | 3 bytes |
’ | U+2019 | Right single quotation mark (curly apostrophe) | 3 bytes |
— | U+2014 | Em dash | 3 bytes |
™ | U+2122 | Trademark sign | 3 bytes |
Solution
We recommend reviewing the source data for the cell to look for special characters, hidden control characters, emojis, or other Unicode symbols that may affect byte sheet limits. If these are present, then they should be removed as needed. Remove invisible characters (such as Control characters), before removing visible ones.