Autofill Cells in Excel

Autofill Cells in Excel

Autofill is really neat. If you have never heard of it, here it goes. Autofill in excel will extend number sequences that you start, automatically. It doesn't only work for numbers. It also works for dates and days of the week, and a few more common series. It can even fill in text for you. It is a very good shortcut for eliminating repetitive work.

Let's autofill some cells because I get bored of repetitive work so I don't want you to have to suffer through it either.

How to Autofill a Number Series:
Image Tutorial

1. Open Microsoft Excel.(How do I open microsoft excel?)
2. Click on cell A1.
3. Type in a "1". (no quotes)
4. Click on cell A2.
5. Type in a "2".
6. Click on cell A3.
7. Type in a "3".
(Now I need you to make the series go all the way to 20)
8. Highlight Cells A1, A2, A3.
   To highlight A1 to A3 you can place your pointer over A1,
   click and hold the left mouse button then drag over A3 and release the button
9. Now you will see a box on the bottom right corner of the highlighted cells. Move your pointer over it until it turns into a little black "+".
10. Left Click and hold the left mouse button.
11. Drag the box all the way down to A20.
12. You should now have 1 to 20 in column A. Amazing isn't it?

How to Autofill a Days of the Week Series:
Image Tutorial

1. Open Microsoft Excel.(How do I open microsoft excel?)
2. Click on cell A1.
3. Type in a "Monday". (no quotes)
4. Click on cell A2.
5. Type in a "Tuesday".
6. Click on cell A3.
7. Type in a "Wednesday".
(Now we want to finish the week)
8. Highlight Cells A1, A2, A3.
   To highlight A1 to A3 you can place your pointer over A1,
   click and hold the left mouse button then drag over A3 and release the button
9. Now you will see a box on the bottom right corner of the highlighted cells. Move your pointer over it until it turns into a little black "+".
10. Left Click and hold the left mouse button.
11. Drag the box all the way down to A7.
12. You should now have Monday to Sunday in column A.

How to Autofill a Date Series:
Image Tutorial

1. Open Microsoft Excel.(How do I open microsoft excel?)
2. Click on cell A1.
3. Type in a "01-Jan-08". (no quotes)
4. Click on cell A2.
5. Type in a "02-Jan-08".
6. Click on cell A3.
7. Type in a "03-Jan-08".
(Curious what happens when you get to 32?)
8. Highlight Cells A1, A2, A3.
   To highlight A1 to A3 you can place your pointer over A1,
   click and hold the left mouse button then drag over A3 and release the button
9. Now you will see a box on the bottom right corner of the highlighted cells. Move your pointer over it until it turns into a little black "+".
10. Left Click and hold the left mouse button.
11. Drag the box all the way down to A32.
12. You should now have January 1st to February 1st in column A.

How to Autofill a String Series:
Image Tutorial

Basically, you want the same word to repeat or a sequence of words to repeat.

1. Open Microsoft Excel.(How do I open microsoft excel?)
2. Click on cell A1.
3. Type in a "this". (no quotes)
4. Click on cell A2.
5. Type in a "is".
6. Click on cell A3.
7. Type in a "great".
8. Highlight Cells A1, A2, A3.
   To highlight A1 to A3 you can place your pointer over A1,
   click and hold the left mouse button then drag over A3 and release the button
9. Now you will see a box on the bottom right corner of the highlighted cells. Move your pointer over it until it turns into a little black "+".
10. Left Click and hold the left mouse button.
11. Drag the box all the way down to A9.
12. You should now have the sequence repeated 3 times in column A.

Ok, a few special footnotes. Before you even ask, yes you can use autofill for rows (across) too. Also, why did I always ask you to fill in three cells by yourself? Because excel requires at least 3 cells to recognize the sequence in most cases. I'm not as bright as you! One day, I sat there wondering why excel wouldn't complete my 1,2 sequence. Good luck with the autofill function in excel, it saves a lot of time.

If you had any problems completing this module or think some details need more explanation, please let us know. We also welcome any other feedback.
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