Microsoft KB Archive/107999

= Microsoft Knowledge Base =

XL5: Data in AutoFill Series Incremented Based on Selection
Last reviewed: March 27, 1997

Article ID: Q107999

5.00 7.00 | 5.00

WINDOWS  | MACINTOSH kbusage kbtlc

The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Excel for Windows, version 5.0
 * Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, version 5.0
 * Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, version 7.0

The following are guidelines for using the AutoFill feature to create a series of incremented values:

 When you select an entire row or column and drag the fill handle, the values in the cells are incremented. To avoid incrementation, hold down the CTRL key (on the Macintosh, hold down the Option key) when you drag the fill handle. When you use the AutoFill feature to increment values, the values are incremented by 1 or by the difference between the values for that particular series. When you drag the fill handle on a single cell that contains a number, the number is not incremented. To increment a number when a single cell is selected, hold down CTRL (on the Macintosh, hold down the Option key) when you drag the fill handle.  When you drag the fill handle perpendicular to a series, the series is not incremented. An exception to this rule is when the series contains mixed types of data as in the following examples. Example 1 - If the cells contain the following A1: 1 A2: a     A3: b  when you select these cells and drag the fill handle to the right, the values will be incremented to: B1: 2 B2: a     B3: b  Example 2 - If you select the following cells (where cells A2 and A3 are blank) A1: 1 A2: A3: and you drag the fill handle to the right, the result is: B1: 2 B2: B3: If you do not want to increment the values in row 1, hold down CTRL when you drag the fill handle. 

NOTE: The information in this article applies to AutoFill only when you are using the fill handle. When you are filling cells with the Fill command on the Edit menu, values are not necessarily incremented in the same manner.