- Name the Sheet
- Understand References
- Enter Information
- Activate a Cell
- Enter Row Headings
- Enter Column Headings
- Make a Column Wider
- Enter Values
- Calculate a Difference
- Calculate a Percent Diff
- Sum Some Values
- Calculate Net Income
- Copy Formulas
- Copy and Paste
- Use the Fill Handle
- Change a Value
- Extra Bits
Use the Fill Handle
A quick way to copy the contents of one cell to one or more adjacent cells is with the fill handle. We’ll use the fill handle to finish up the worksheet entries.
- Activate cell B6.
- Position the mouse pointer on the selection’s fill handle—a tiny square in the bottom-right corner of the selection box. The mouse pointer turns into a black cross.
- Press the mouse button and drag to the right. As you drag, a gray border stretches over the cells you pass over.
- When the border surrounds cells B6 and C6, release the mouse button. The formula in cell B6 is copied to cell C6.
- Repeat steps 1–4 for cell B27 to copy its formula to C27 and for cell B28 to copy its formula to cell C28. When you’re finished, the worksheet should look like this:
- Drag to select cells D3 and E3.
- Position the mouse pointer on the selection’s fill handle.
- Press the mouse button down and drag so the border completely surrounds cells D3 through E6.
- Release the mouse button. The two formulas are copied down to the cells you dragged over.
Repeat steps 6–9 to copy cells D8 and E8 to the range beneath it (shown here) and cells D22 and E22 to the range beneath it.
When you’re finished, the worksheet should look like this.
Have you been saving your work?
Now is a good time to click the Save button on the Quick Access toolbar to save your work up to this point.