How to Use AutoFill in Excel

AutoFill continues a pattern for you. Type one or two values, drag the fill handle (the small square at the bottom-right corner of the selection), and Excel fills in the rest. For text patterns, Flash Fill does the same job.

Example 1: a number pattern

1. Type 15 in cell B2 and 20 in B3.

   

2. Select B2:B3 and drag the fill handle down.

   

How it works: Excel looks at the cells you selected, spots the pattern (here, adding 5 each time), and continues it.

Example 2: months

1. Type Jan in cell B2.

   

2. Drag the fill handle down. Excel fills in Feb, Mar, Apr and so on.

   

Example 3: dates

1. Type the date 03/03/2022 in cell B2.

   

2. Drag the fill handle down. Excel fills in the following days.

   

Try it with days of the week too, such as Monday.

Tip: After dragging, click the small Auto Fill Options button that appears to choose how to fill, for example Fill Weekdays to skip weekends, or Fill Months.

Example 4: Flash Fill

Flash Fill fills a column by copying a text pattern you type once.

1. In cell C3, type the number you want from B3, here 200,000.

   

2. On the Data tab, click Flash Fill (or press Ctrl + E).

   

Result: Excel fills in the rest of the column.

Flash Fill can also combine cells, for example to build email addresses:

1. In cell D3, type the email address you want for the first row.

   

2. On the Data tab, click Flash Fill (or press Ctrl + E).

   

Result: every row gets its email address.