Thursday, August 1, 2013

Using MS Excel - Filling in Numbers and Dates Automatically

Excel's Auto Fill Option is a huge time-saver for entering numbers and dates!

If you want consecutive or repeated numbers or dates in cells (vertically or horizontally), follow the steps below:
  1. Type the number or date in the first cell.
  2. Hover your mouse over the "fill handle" (small black box) in lower right corner of the cell where you typed the number or date.  Your mouse pointer changes to a black cross. 

  3. Click and drag the "fill handle" to the desired cell location. (In this example I typed "1" in cell A1, and then dragged the "fill handle" to cell A8.)

  4. Release the mouse and the Auto Fill Options display on the screen.
  5. If the desired results are not displayed, click the Auto Fill Options to make any changes.  Choose "Fill Series" to make the number increase in each cell or "Copy Cells" to make each cell the same as the first number or date.  
  6. The numbers/dates change based on your selection. 
  7. Try it out!