Auto fill is a feature of Excel that automates the input of certain data such as days of the week, months of the year and quarters. It’s very simple to do and is a great time saver.
If for example you needed to have days of the week on a spreadsheet, you only have to type in Monday and auto fill will do the rest. Here’s how.
- Type Monday (or Mon for short) into a cell and press tab/return.
- Reselect the cell and move the mouse pointer to the bottom right hand corner. It will change from a white cross to a black cross
- Hold down the left mouse key whilst the black cross is visible and move it across (or down) the page. As you do you will see the days of the week appear besides the cell it will eventually fill.
- Release the mouse button when you have selected the relevant cells.
By default all seven days of the week will appear. If you want your spread sheet to list only weekdays, follow these extra steps.
- Click on the auto fill options box which will appear beside the last cell in your selected range.
- Select ‘fill weekdays’ from the menu.
You can auto fill months of the year and quarters using the first 4 steps.
Why not give it try.
