


Click in a cell with data to be copied, hover the cursor over the cell's lower right corner until the cursor changes to a thin plus sign (+) or a dark square, and drag in any direction.Įxcel's Fill Handle is powerful! See How to Autofill Anything for quick points, or visit our Autofill Information Center for a list of autofill tutorials. To propagate in any direction, use the Fill Handle to autofill. To fill adjacent cells with the contents of the cell to the left, select the cell with the data and cells to be filled and press Ctrl + R (the Ctrl key and the R key) to fill to the right.To fill adjacent cells with the contents of the cell above, select the cell with the data and the cells to be filled and press Ctrl + D (the Ctrl key and the D key) to fill down.Let's begin with two popular keyboard shortcuts that allow us to fill down, or fill to the right: There are multiple ways to propagate or fill data from one cell to adjacent cells. However, Excel will use the actual value you entered when performing calculations that involve that cell. A cell's format may be different than the cell contents.įor example, if you enter 8.9521 in a cell formatted to show two decimal places, Excel will display 8.95 in the worksheet cell. To edit directly inside a cell, either double click inside the cell, or select the cell and press the F2 key.Įach cell has a specific format which tells Excel how to display its contents. When done typing, either press the Enter key or click inside another cell. To edit from the Formula Bar, select the cell and click inside the Formula Bar. When you are ready to write math formulas, see Excel Math Basics.Ĭell contents may be edited from the Formula Bar or directly inside a cell. But the power of Excel is its ability to perform mathematical calculations and other functions. Microsoft Excel is a program that allows the user to enter data in rows and columns, similar to a Microsoft Word table. How to Lock Cells and Protect a Spreadsheet.We encourage you to open the Excel program on your computer and follow along with the steps below in your own worksheet. We'll tell you everything you need to know to get started using Microsoft Excel. We'll learn how to enter data into cells, move and copy data, propagate cell contents, and more. Read our disclosure policy to learn more. ○ This tutorial contains affiliate links.
