Excel's AutoFill facility relies on the program's ability to recognize patterns in the values that you enter. For example, say you type "Week 1" in a cell; you can have the program automatically enter "Week 2", "Week 3", etc. by dragging the AutoFill handle. This is situated in the bottom right of the cell. When the cursor moves over it, the cursor changes appearance to a plus sign (+). At this point you simply click, hold, drag in any direction and Excel will pick up the pattern and reproduce it to create automatic data entries.
Whenever you use the AutoFill handle Excel displays the AutoFill Options drop down menu just below the last cell which has been automatically generated. If the program has not entered the correct data, you can choose one of the entries in the AutoFill Options to tell it what you actually meant it to do. For example, if you choose Copy Cells, you simply get an exact copy of what was in the original cell.
Excel also contains the ability to automatically enter arbitrary series of data using a facility called Custom Lists. Some lists are built into Excel, for example, the months of the year. To use the AutoFill feature, type in the first value in the list, for example, "Jan" or "January". Next, click on the AutoFill handle (in the bottom right of the active cell) and drag it in any direction. Excel will automatically enter the rest of the custom list.
In addition to Excel's built-in lists, you can also create your own custom lists. For example, let's say we work for a company that has branches in several towns. We would almost certainly need to list these towns quite frequently in our spreadsheets. We could save ourselves a fair amount of time by setting up the towns as a custom list.
Creating a custom list is really easy. First, select the cells in one of your worksheets that contain the necessary information. Second, click on the Office button and choose Excel options. Third, click on "Edit Custom Lists" in the "Popular" category. Excel displays the entries that were in the cells that we highlighted. Finally, to convert the selected data into a custom list, click on the "Import" button.
Once you've created a custom list, it can be used in any of your worksheets, not just the sheet that contained the original information. To generate the entries in the list, simply type the first value. Next, drag the AutoFill handle to conjure up the remaining entries. When using this facility, we can drag in any direction and we don't have to start with the first member of the custom list.
Custom lists can also be entered directly in the "Custom Lists" dialog box. To do this, click on the "List Entries" button and type the list separating entries with a carriage return. After entering the list, click on the Add button to make it permanent.
To delete a custom list, simply click on it and click on the "Delete" button. Excel verifies that you want to delete the list and when you click "OK", the list is gone. - 16089
Whenever you use the AutoFill handle Excel displays the AutoFill Options drop down menu just below the last cell which has been automatically generated. If the program has not entered the correct data, you can choose one of the entries in the AutoFill Options to tell it what you actually meant it to do. For example, if you choose Copy Cells, you simply get an exact copy of what was in the original cell.
Excel also contains the ability to automatically enter arbitrary series of data using a facility called Custom Lists. Some lists are built into Excel, for example, the months of the year. To use the AutoFill feature, type in the first value in the list, for example, "Jan" or "January". Next, click on the AutoFill handle (in the bottom right of the active cell) and drag it in any direction. Excel will automatically enter the rest of the custom list.
In addition to Excel's built-in lists, you can also create your own custom lists. For example, let's say we work for a company that has branches in several towns. We would almost certainly need to list these towns quite frequently in our spreadsheets. We could save ourselves a fair amount of time by setting up the towns as a custom list.
Creating a custom list is really easy. First, select the cells in one of your worksheets that contain the necessary information. Second, click on the Office button and choose Excel options. Third, click on "Edit Custom Lists" in the "Popular" category. Excel displays the entries that were in the cells that we highlighted. Finally, to convert the selected data into a custom list, click on the "Import" button.
Once you've created a custom list, it can be used in any of your worksheets, not just the sheet that contained the original information. To generate the entries in the list, simply type the first value. Next, drag the AutoFill handle to conjure up the remaining entries. When using this facility, we can drag in any direction and we don't have to start with the first member of the custom list.
Custom lists can also be entered directly in the "Custom Lists" dialog box. To do this, click on the "List Entries" button and type the list separating entries with a carriage return. After entering the list, click on the Add button to make it permanent.
To delete a custom list, simply click on it and click on the "Delete" button. Excel verifies that you want to delete the list and when you click "OK", the list is gone. - 16089
About the Author:
The The writer of this article is a trainer and developer with OnSiteTrainingCourses.Com, an independent computer training company offering Microsoft Excel Classes in London and throughout the UK.
