Using Excel’s Smart Autofill feature

Excel is a powerful spreadsheet application that can help you organize, analyze, and present data. One of the features that makes Excel so versatile is the ability to fill cells automatically with data that follows a pattern or are based on data in other cells. This feature is called Smart Autofill and it consists of two components: AutoFill and Flash Fill. In this article, we will explain how to use these components to save time and effort when working with Excel.

AutoFill

AutoFill is a feature that allows you to fill a series of cells with data that follows a simple or complex pattern. For example, you can use AutoFill to fill a column with numbers, dates, weekdays, months, years, formulas, or custom lists. You can also use AutoFill to copy the same value or formula to multiple cells.

To use the AutoFill feature in Excel, you can follow these steps:

Enter the first item in the series in the cell where you want the series to start.
Click and drag the fill handle (the small square in the bottom right corner of the cell) over the cells where you want the series to be filled.
If needed, click Auto Fill Options and choose the option you want.

The Auto Fill Options button allows you to choose how Excel fills the cells. You can choose from the following options:

Copy Cells: This option copies the same value or formula to all the selected cells.
Fill Series: This option fills the cells with a series that follows the pattern of the first cell.
Fill Formatting Only: This option copies only the formatting of the first cell to all the selected cells.
Fill Without Formatting: This option copies only the value or formula of the first cell to all the selected cells without applying any formatting.
Fill Days: This option fills the cells with consecutive days of the week, starting from the first cell.
Fill Weekdays: This option fills the cells with consecutive weekdays, excluding weekends, starting from the first cell.
Fill Months: This option fills the cells with consecutive months of the year, starting from the first cell.
Fill Years: This option fills the cells with consecutive years, starting from the first cell.
Linear Trend: This option fills the cells with a linear series that increases or decreases by a constant amount, based on the difference between the first two cells.
Growth Trend: This option fills the cells with an exponential series that increases or decreases by a constant percentage, based on the ratio between the first two cells.
Flash Fill: This option invokes the Flash Fill feature, which we will explain in the next section.

You can also create your own custom lists to use with AutoFill. For example, you can create a list of product names, employee names, regions, or any other category that you frequently use in your worksheets. To create a custom list, follow these steps:

Click File > Options > Advanced > Edit Custom Lists.
In the Custom Lists dialog box, you can either type your list items in the List entries box, separated by commas or line breaks, or select a range of cells that contains your list items in your worksheet.
Click Add and then OK.

You can now use your custom list with AutoFill by entering one of the list items in a cell and dragging the fill handle over other cells.

Flash Fill

Flash Fill is a feature that allows you to fill cells with data that is extracted or combined from other cells based on an example that you provide. For example, you can use Flash Fill to split a column of full names into separate columns for first and last names, or to combine columns of first and last names into a single column of full names. You can also use Flash Fill to format data such as phone numbers, email addresses, dates, or case.

To use Flash Fill in Excel, you can follow these steps:

Enter an example of how you want your data to look like in an adjacent cell or column.
Press Enter and move to the next cell where you want Flash Fill to continue filling data.
Press Ctrl+E or click Data > Flash Fill.

Excel will automatically fill the remaining cells with data that matches your example. If Excel does not fill your data correctly, you can undo (Ctrl+Z) and enter another example in a different cell to help Excel learn your pattern. You can also click Flash Fill Options and choose one of these options:

Accept Suggestions: This option accepts all the suggestions made by Flash Fill.
Select All Changed Cells: This option selects all the cells that were changed by Flash Fill so that you can review them easily.
Undo Flash Fill: This option undoes all the changes made by Flash Fill.
Stop Automatically Flash Filling: This option turns off Flash Fill for this worksheet.

You can also turn on or off Flash Fill for all worksheets by clicking File > Options > Advanced > Automatically Flash Fill.

Conclusion

Using Excel’s Smart Autofill feature can help you fill cells with data quickly and easily. You can use AutoFill to fill cells with data that follows a pattern or are based on data in other cells. You can use Flash Fill to fill cells with data that is extracted or combined from other cells based on an example that you provide. You can also create your own custom lists to use with AutoFill and adjust the Auto Fill Options and Flash Fill Options to suit your needs.

For more information and examples on how to use Smart Autofill in Excel, you can refer to these sources:

Using Excel’s Smart Autofill feature