How to Use the AutoFill Function in Excel

Use the AutoFill feature in Microsoft Excel 2000 to automatically fill in cells with common series (numbers, months, days of the week) or with custom lists, such as your company's departments or the sections of your budget.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Using the Basic AutoFill

1. Open an Excel document.
2. Enter the first value in the cell you want to begin the series (such as "January").
3. If your series is numerical, click the next cell you want in the series and type the next value. The difference between the two initial cells determines how the series is incremented. For example, if you entered 1 in the first cell and 3 in the next cell, the increment would be 2.
4. Select the two cells you just entered (or the first one, for a non-numerical series, such as days of the week).
5. Locate the "fill handle," or the dark square in the lower right corner of the cell. The pointer should change to a small dark square when it's over the fill handle.
6. Drag the pointer to cover all the cells you want in the series.

Creating a Custom Fill List

7. Enter the list in a spreadsheet.
8. Open the Tools menu and choose Options.
9. Click the Custom List tab.
10. Click Import.

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