Coffee Break Computer

Excel 2007: Generate a Quick List of Months with the Fill Handle

Not just months, but days (like Monday, Tuesday), dates, or a series of numbers. And it copies formulas, too. The fill handle is the thin plus you get onscreen when you hover your mouse over the little square in the corner of the cell pointer.

To create a series of months or days:

1. Type in the first month or day (in text form), then Enter.
2. Move the cell pointer back on the cell where you typed the month or day.
3. Move the mouse over the small black square in the lower right corner of the cell pointer (the cell pointer is the heavy black outline around the current selected cell).
4. When the mouse changes to a thin plus shape, click and drag to fill in the sequence. You can drag across columns or down rows, but not both at the same time. You could also drag to the left or up to fill in reverse order. A pop-up will show what will go into the last cell so you’ll know where to stop. Drag the mouse down or up to adjust how much to fill in.
5. Let go of the mouse button to fill in the cells.

To create a series of dates:

1. Type the start date in a cell and enter. To put in today’s date, push Ctrl + ; (semicolon) then Enter.
2. To fill a continuous series of dates, start with the cell pointer on the cell with the date, move the mouse over the small black square in the lower right corner of the cell pointer until the mouse change to a thin plus shape, then click and drag until you see your end date show in the pop-up.
3. To fill in only weekdays, you do the same steps, except you right-click and hold when you drag the mouse. When you release, a menu will give you fill choices, with Fill Weekdays as an option.

To create a custom date (or number) sequence:

If you want a list of every Monday, start by typing in a couple dates to start the series. Select those two cells. Then hover the mouse over the corner to get the fill handle, click and drag to fill.

Popularity: 4% [?]