Microsoft KB Archive/291359

= How to use the Auto Fill Options button in Excel =

Article ID: 291359

Article Last Modified on 1/19/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Office Excel 2007
 * Microsoft Office Excel 2003
 * Microsoft Excel 2002 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q291359



SUMMARY
When you fill in data based on adjacent cells by dragging the fill handle in Microsoft Excel, the Auto Fill Options button is displayed just below and to the right of your filled selection. When you click the Auto Fill Options button, a list of options appears that allows you to choose to fill the cells with text or data, and whether or not to include the format of the initial selection or to copy only the format.



The Auto Fill Options button is also displayed after you select the AutoFill option in the Series dialog box. To show the Series dialog box, use one of the following procedures, as appropriate for the version of Excel that you are running:
 * In Microsoft Office Excel 2007, click the Home tab, and then click Fill in the Editing group.
 * In Microsoft Office Excel and in earlier versions of Excel, point to Fill on the Edit menu, and then click Series.

The options that are available depend on the type of content in the cells (text or numbers) and on the format of the data. You can use the Series command to find the AutoFill option and other options.



MORE INFORMATION
To display the list of Auto Fill options, click the Auto Fill Options button. The list of options varies according to the type of data: text and formulas, numbers, months, days of the week, and dates. The full list of options that may be available is as follows:

Copy Cells

Fill Series

Fill Formatting Only

Fill Without Formatting

Fill Days

Fill Weekdays

Fill Months

Fill Years

The same eight options are also included on the shortcut menu that appears when you right-click and drag the fill handle to adjacent cells. The Auto Fill Options button is not displayed when you use this method.

