What does clicking and dragging the fill handle indicated by the cursor below do in Excel
Home ➜ Excel Basics ➜ How to Use Fill Handle in Excel In Excel, Fill Handle is a tool that auto-fills the rows/columns following the values pattern
of the selected cells and creates a list of series. Fill handle is a very small black box always available at the right bottom corner of every cell, and the users just need to click on it and drag it with the help of a mouse or double press on it and it will auto-fill the cells and creates a series based on the values you have in the selected cells. Fill Handle can be used to auto-fill the cells based on the value you have in the cell(s) in the starting cells from where you want to
create a list. The process of using the Fill Handle to auto-fill the list with any kind of value such as numbers, dates, weekdays, and formulas is the same and we have some examples listed below for you to understand how Fill Handle works. Use Fill Handle to Autofill the Number Series Pattern Using Drag and Drop.
Use Fill Handle to Autofill the Number Series Pattern Using Double ClickYou can also auto-fill the cells by just double click on the Fill Handle, but to do this you should have data in the adjacent columns.
In the above examples we have used the pattern of incremental of 1 in the first two selected cells, thus Fill Handle followed the same pattern and auto-filled the cells following the same incremental pattern. Use Fill Handle to Autofill the DatesFill Handle gives you different options to choose from the Fill Handle icon based on the values you enter in the cell to create a list. In the below image, you can see we have taken cell value as a date. And when we used the Fill Handle to autofill the cells and clicked the Fill Handle icon, it showed us more options related to dates like “Fill days, Fill Weekdays, Fill Months, Fill Years”. And you can choose any of the options based on your list requirements. Fill Handle OptionsSome of the Fill Handle icon options like “Copy Cells, Fill Series, Fill Formatting Only, Fill Without Formatting, and Flash Fill” remains constant every time but some options can vary based on the cell values. For example, if your cell value is a day’s name then it will show you 2-3 additional options related to the day’s name formatting only. We have described some widely used Fill Handle options below:
🔙 Excel Basics More TutorialsWhat does clicking and dragging do in Excel?Rather than cutting, copying, and pasting, you can drag and drop cells to move their contents. Select the cell(s) you want to move. Click, hold, and drag the cells to the desired location. Release the mouse, and the cells will be dropped in the selected location.
What is drag fill handle in Excel?Fill Handle is a feature in Excel that enables you to auto-complete a list in a row/column by simply dragging it using your mouse. A basic understanding of fill handle in Excel could save you some time and make you more productive.
What is fill handle How does fill handle cursor appears?Excel's fill handle is a small rectangular control that appears whenever a cell or range of cells are selected. When the cursor is moved over the fill handle, it turns into a cross symbol, which can be dragged to fill in more cells.
What is auto fill How does fill handle work in Microsoft Excel?Put the mouse pointer over the bottom right-hand corner of the cell until it's a black plus sign. Click and hold the left mouse button, and drag the plus sign over the cells you want to fill. And the series is filled in for you automatically using the AutoFill feature.
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