Tip: AutoFill in Excel – all versions Excel 2007, Excel 2010 and Excel 2013

The Auto fill feature will save you lots of time when copying formulae across a whole row or when filling a list.

To do this place your cursor over the little black box in the bottom right hand corner of the cell you wish to copy and drag it across to the other cells. The cursor will look like a little black cross.

You can get Excel to fill in any sequence that you start including days of the week and months of the year.

For example to fill days of the week:

1. Type Monday into a cell Place the cursor in the bottom right hand corner
2. Click and drag across or down
3. Click the smart tab to see a list of options
4. In this example, we can select Fill Weekdays to have Excel omit Saturdays and Sundays from the list

To fill dates:

1. Type the first date you need
2. Place the cursor over the bottom right hand corner of the cell
3. Click and Drag across or down

To fill months:

1. Type the first month in your sequence
2. Place the cursor over the bottom right hand corner of the cell
3. Click and drag across or down

To create a list of dates with one week between each date:

1. Type the first date
2. Type the second date in your sequence
3. Select both the cells
4. Place your cursor over the bottom right hand corner of the second selected cell
5. Click and drag across or down

To copy formatting:

1. Set up the format you wish to copy
2. Select the cells
3. Place the cursor in the bottom right hand corner of the last cell in the sequence
4. Click and drag across or down

In this example I have shaded the cells and added borders

then copied the format using Auto Fill.

How will this tip help you improve your performance at work?  I would love to hear from you!

To discuss your organisational training needs call me on 020 8203 1774 or email enquiries@theittrainingsurgery.com