This page shows a few simple tricks to filling cells relatively quickly.Example 1
Start with the following exercise:
- Open a new worksheet by clicking on Insert and Worksheet.
- Go to cell A1 and type: 1 in that cell. Hit [Enter]. Move the mouse toward the bottom right corner of cell A1, until your cursor turns into a black cross-hairs and then click and drag to cell A12. When cells A1 through A12 are highlighted, release the mouse button.
- You have now filled down the number 1 into the cells A1-A12.
Example 2
You can also create a series of numbers:
- Go to cell B1 and type: 1 in that cell, and hit [Enter].
- Go to cell B2 and type: 2 in that cell, and hit [Enter].
- Highlight both cells B1 and B2. Use the "Fill Down" technique shown in the first example (using the bottom right corner of cell B2) to highlight the cells B2-B12.
- You should now see a series of numbers from 1-12 in cells B1 through B12.
Example 3
You can also fill down formulas:
- Go to cell C1 and write a formula to add cells A1 and B1. Thus, in cell C1, you will want to type: =A1 + B1 and then hit [Enter].
- "Fill Down" the formula through from cell C1 through cell C12.
- You should see different values in cells C1-C12. If you look at the edit line for several of the cells in column C, the formulas should change corresponding to the row that you are in.
Example 4
You can also keep formulas the same for all rows. In this case, you need to proceed the reference with a $ sign.
- Go to cell D1 and type: =A1 + $B$1 and hit [Enter].
- "Fill Down" from cell D1 through cell D12.
- Now compare columns C and D. How are they different? Notice that all the cells in column D contain a reference to cell B1.