how do i get excel to go beyond 65,536 rows?

It is not possible for Microsoft Excel to go beyond 65,536 rows in a
single worksheet (also known as a sheet or a spreadsheet). If you
require more than 65,536 rows, you will have to split the information
across multiple worksheets.

There is also a limitation on the number of columns and characters in
a single cell per worksheet. At most 256 columns and 32,000 characters
in a single cell can be used per worksheet. Again, to get beyond this
limit in Microsoft Excel, one will have to open a new worksheet.

As pdreyn-ga points out in the Comments below, if you require using
that much data, you may want to look into database alternatives, such
as Microsoft Access Lotus Approach, or FileMaker Pro


Additional information:

Jan's Excel Intro: Excel Interface
http://www.jegsworks.com/Lessons/numbers/intro/interface.htm

"Is There A Limit On Excel 97?" Webboard Posting
http://www.tek-tips.com/gviewthread.cfm/lev2/3/lev3/18/pid/68/qid/222000

Microsoft Knowledge Base: Importing Text Files Larger Than 16384 Rows
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q120596

Ebay: Databases
http://listings.ebay.com/aw/plistings/list/all/category3773/index.html


Search terms used:

excel 65,536 rows
://www.google.com/search?q=excel+65%2C536+rows

you don't, that's the limit.  If you have that much data, you should
really be using a database application like MS Access.

You can use Excel's VBA to process more than 65,535 rows, if the
original source is a text file or database.

I've had to do that here at work, where a text file came by that was
exported from a database, but the calculations required to be done on
that data were beyond the capabilities of Access.  So, I put together
an quickie import macro which imported about 30,000 rows per sheet,
did the appropriate calculations, then exported it back out again as a
text file with the calculated values.

The benefit of Excel is its incredible flexibility.  But if your needs
are relatively simple - joining tables, etc - then Access will work.

It's too bad, imho, that Excel does not go beyond 65,535 rows -- plus
which it never gets respect among IT.  It gets respect from the
Business users, especially analysts and creative people who look for
new ways to mine data.

So, yes - there are ways to get around the 65535 row limit - but
they're not obvious ways.

One thing you can do, if it's a text file that is the source, is find
a freeware file-splitter in which you can specify how many lines to
split up.  So, for example, you can have it do "every 30000 lines,
split" - then import each of the resulting files into Excel.  When
you're done with your calculations, save each sheet as a text file,
and join them together again elsewhere.

You can work with an external database from within Excel.  You will
find that performance is better because the entire data set does not
have to be loaded into memory.  I recommend a copy of the excellent

Mastering™ Excel 97 
By Thomas Chester and Richard H. Alden 
   see http://www.sybex.com/sybexbooks.nsf/9c3e1a82d846780c882569730064cc58/7c033a68bb6cc2df8825693d0057f3ff!OpenDocument

for details, or, if you are using Office 2000, 

Mastering™ Excel 2000 Premium Edition 
By Mindy C. Martin; Steven M. Hansen; Beth Klingher 

http://www.sybex.com/sybexbooks.nsf/9c3e1a82d846780c882569730064cc58/22a7cb419e97fa7a8825693d0057f8e3!OpenDocument

They are highly recommended for novices and experts alike!