Have you selected a cell with the formula? Which of the following options can you use to copy the formula to an adjacent cell? (2023)

Lesson 7: Cell basics

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Introduction

Whenever you work with Excel, you enter information - orcontents-go insidecells. Cells are the basic building blocks of a worksheet. You have to learn the basicscellsIncelinhoudto calculate, analyze and organize data in Excel.

Optional: Download our practice workbook.

Understanding cells

Each worksheet is made up of thousands of rectangles, which are calledcells. A cell is theintersectionof aqueueand acolumn. Columns are identified byletters (A, B, C), while rows are identified bynumbers (1, 2, 3).

Each cell has its ownname-ofmobile address—based on the column and row. In this example, the selected cell intersectsaround CInrow 5, so the cell address isC5. The cell address also appears in theBox name. Note that a cellcolumnInrow of headsAremarkedwhen the cell is selected.

You can also selectmultiple cellsat the same time. A group of cells is known as acell range. Instead of a single cell address, you reference a range of cells using the cell addresses of theFirstInlastcells in the cell range, separated by acolon. For example, a range of cells containing cells A1, A2, A3, A4, and A5 would be written asA1:A5.

In the images below, two different ranges of cells have been selected:

• Cell rangeA1:A8

  

  Cell range A1:A8
  
• Cell rangeA1:B8

  

  Celbereik A1:B8
  

If the columns in your spreadsheet are labeled with numbers instead of letters, you need to change the default reference style for Excel. Check out our Extra on What are Reference Styles? learn how.

To select a cell:

To enter or edit cell contents, you must firstSelectingby the one.

1. Click on oneTHEto select it.
2. Aborder

   

   appears around the selected cell, and thecolumn headInrow headwill be marked. The cell remainsselecteduntil you click another cell in the worksheet.

   

   Select a single cell

You can also select cells using thearrow keyson your keyboard.

To select a range of cells:

Sometimes you may want to select a larger group of cells, or onecell range.

1. Click, hold and drag the mouse until alladjacent cellsyou want to be selectmarked.
2. Let go of the mouseSelectingthe desired cell range. The cells remainselecteduntil you click another cell in the worksheet.

   

   Select a range of cells

Cell content

All the information you enter into a spreadsheet is stored in a cell. Each cell can contain different typescontents, includedtext,formatting,formulas, Infunctions.

• Text
  cells can containtextsuch as letters, numbers and dates.

  

  See Also

  How to Select Non-Contiguous Cells in Excel (5 Easy Ways)Microsoft Excel Integrations Connect your apps with Zapier - Frame 360
  The text
• Format attributes
  cells can containformatting attributesthat change the way letters, numbers and dates aredisplayed. For example, percentages can be displayed as 0.15 or 15%. You can even change a cellBackground colour.

  

  Cell formatting
• Formulas and functions
  cells can containformulasInfunctionsthat calculate cell values. In our example, SUM(B2:B8) adds the value of each cell in cell range B2:B8 and displays the total in cell B9.

  

  Cell formulas

Insert content:

1. Click on oneTHEto select it.

   

   Select cell A1
2. Typecontentsin the selected cell, then pressEnteron your keyboard. The content appears in theTHEand theformula bar. You can also enter and edit cell contents in the formula bar.

   

   Insert cell contents

Delete cell contents:

1. Select theTHEwith content you want to delete.

   

   Select a cell
   
2. press theTo deleteofBackspacekey on your keyboard. The contents of the cell are deleted.

   

   Delete cell contents

You can use theTo deletekey on your keyboard to delete content frommultiple cellsinstantly. The Backspace key deletes only one cell at a time.

Delete cells:

There is an important difference betweento delete the contents of a cellInremove the cell itself. If you delete the whole cell, the cells below it will tooshift upwardsand replace the removed cells.

1. Select thecells)you want to delete.

   

   Select a cell to delete
2. Select theTo deletecommand of theAt hometab on theRibbon.

   

   Click the Delete command
3. The cells below will do thatshift upwards.

   

   Cells shifted to replace the deleted cell

Copy and paste cell contents:

Excel makes it possibleto copycontent already entered into your spreadsheet andPlacingthat content to other cells, which can save you time and effort.

1. Select thecells)you wantto copy.

   

   Select a cell to copy
2. Click theTo copycommand on theAt hometab or pressCtrl+Con your keyboard.

   

   Click the Copy command
3. Select thecells)where you wantPlacingcontent. The copied cells now have astriped boxaround them.

   

   Paste cells
4. Click thePlacingcommand on theAt hometab or pressCtrl+Von your keyboard.

   

   Click the Paste command
5. The content will bepastedin the selected cells.

   

   The pasted cell contents

Cut and paste cell contents:

Unlike copy and paste, whatduplicatescelinhoud,to cutallows you tomovementcontent between cells.

1. Select thecells)you wantcut.

   

   Select a range of cells to cut
2. Click theSnowcommand on theAt hometab or pressCtrl+Xon your keyboard.

   

   Click the Cut command
3. Select the cells where you wantPlacingcontent. The cut cells now have astriped boxaround them.

   

   Paste cells
   
4. Click thePlacingcommand on theAt hometab or pressCtrl+Von your keyboard.

   

   Click the Paste command
5. The clipped content will beDELETEDof the original cells andpastedin the selected cells.

   

   The cut and pasted cells

To access more paste options:

You can also gain accessadditional paste options, which is especially useful when working with cells that containformulasofformatting.

• To access more paste options, click thedrop-down arrowon thePlacingcommando.

Instead of choosing commands from the ribbon, you can quickly access commands byright click. Simply select thecells)you wantformatand then right-click. adrop-down menuwill appear, where you will find severalcommando'swhich are also on the Ribbon.

Drag and drop cells:

Instead of cutting, copying and pasting, you can do that toodrag and dropcells to move their contents.

1. Select thecells)you wantmovement.
2. Move the mouse over theborderof the selected cell(s) until the cursor changes from awhite cross

   

   to ablack cross with four arrows

   

   .

   

   Hover over the cell boundary
   
3. Click, hold and drag the cells into thedesirable place.

   

   Drag the selected cells
4. Release the mouse and the cells will bedroppedat the selected location.

   

   The fallen cells

To use the fill handle:

You may need to copy the contents of one cell to several other cells in your worksheet. You couldcut and pastethe contents in each cell, but this method would be time consuming. Instead, you can use thefill handleto quickly copy and paste content toadjacent cellsin the same row or column.

1. Select thecells)with the content you want to use. Thefill handleappears as a small square in the bottom right corner of the selected cell(s).

   

   Find the fill handle
2. Click, hold and drag thefill handleuntil all the cells you want to fill areselected.

   

   Drag the fill handle
3. Let go of the mouseto fillthe selected cells.

   

   The filled cells

Continue a series with the fill handle:

The fill handle can also be usedGet on a series. When the contents of a row or column follow a sequential order, such asnumbers (1, 2, 3)ofto dawn (Monday Tuesday Wednesday), the fill handle can guess what should come next in the series. In many cases, you may need to selectmultiple cellsbefore using the fill handle to help Excel determine sequence order. In our example below, the fill handle is used to expand a seriesthe datein a column.

You can alsoDouble clickthe fill handle instead of clicking and dragging. This can be useful with larger spreadsheets, where clicking and dragging can be a pain.

Watch the video below to see an example of double-clicking the fill handle.

Using Flash Fill:

A new function in Excel 2013,Flash fillcan automatically enter data into your worksheet, saving you time and effort. Like the fill handle,Flash fillcan guess what type of information you are entering into your worksheet. In the example below, we use Flash Fill to create a list offirst namesusing a list of existing onesemail addresses.

1. Enter the desired information in your worksheet. aFlash Fill Previewappears below the selected cell when Flash Fill is available.

   

   Preview Flash Fill data
2. PressEnter. The Flash Fill data will beaddedto the worksheet.

   

   The entered Flash Fill data

Nastyto processofUndoFlash Fill, click on theFlash Fill-knopnext to recently added Flash Fill data.

Find and replace

When you work with a lot of data in Excel, it can be difficult and time consuming to find specific information. You can easily search your workbook using theFindfeature, which also allows you to change content using theTo replacefunction.

To find content:

In our example, we use the Find command to find a specific name in a long list of employees.

1. Of theAt hometab, click theSearch and selectcommand, and then selectFind...from the drop-down menu.

   

   Clicking the Find command
2. OfFind and replacedialog box appears. Enter thecontentsyou want to find. In our example, we type the name of the employee.
3. ClickFind Next. If the content is found, the cell containing that content is foundselected.

   

   Click Find Next
4. ClickFind Nextto find more examples orWin allto see every instance of the search term.

   

   Click Find All
5. When you're done, clickClose toto close the Find and Replace dialog box.

   

   Close the Find and Replace dialog box

You can also access the Find command by pressingCtrl+Fon your keyboard.

ClickOptionsto see advanced search criteria in the Find and Replace dialog box.

Replace cell contents:

Sometimes you may find that you have repeatedly made a mistake in your workbook (such as misspelling someone's name), or that you need to replace a certain word or phrase with another. You can use ExcelFind and replacefeature to make quick revisions. In our example, we use Find and Replace to correct a list of email addresses.

1. Of theAt hometab, click theSearch and selectcommand, and then selectTo replace...from the drop-down menu.

   

   Clicking the Replace command
2. OfFind and replacedialog box appears. Type the text you want to search for in itFind what:veld.
3. Type the text you want to replace it with in theIs replaced by: field, then clickFind Next.

   

   Click Find Next
4. If the content is found, the cell containing that content is foundselected.
5. Judgementthe text to make sure you want to replace it.
6. If you want to replace it, select one of theto replaceoptions:
   • To replacewill replace individual instances.
   • Replace everythingwill replace any copy of the text in the workbook. In our example, we choose this option to save time.

   

   Replace the highlighted text
7. A dialog appears confirming the number of replacements performed. ClickOKGet on.

   

   OK click
8. The selected cell contents will beto replace.

   

   The replaced content
9. When you're done, clickClose toto close the Find and Replace dialog box.

   

   Close the Find and Replace dialog box

Challenge!

1. Open an existing Excel 2013 workbook. If you want, you can use our practice workbook.
2. Select cell D3. Note how theTHE addressappears in theBox nameAnd hiscontentsappears both in the cell and in theFormula bar.
3. Select a cell and try to inserttextInnumbers.
4. To deletea cell, and notice how the cells belowmove upto fill his place.
5. Snowcells andPlacingthem to another location. Using the example, cut cellsD4:D6and paste them inE4:E6.
6. Attemptto towIndropsome cells to other parts of the worksheet.
7. Use thefill handleto fill data in adjacent cells both vertically and horizontally. Using the example, use the fill handle tocontinue the seriesof dates in row 3.
8. Use theFindfunction to find content in your workbook. If you are using the example, type the nameLewisin theFind what:veld.

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When you copy a formula to an adjacent cell What should you do to ensure that the pasted formula uses the related cells and not the original cells of the copied formula?

Enter your formula in one cell and press Ctrl + Enter instead of Enter. That is it! The formula is copied to all selected cells and Excel adjusts the relative cell references accordingly.

What's the point of quickly copying and pasting content to adjacent cells in the same row or column?

Around thefill handle:Instead, you can use the fill handle to quickly copy and paste content into adjacent cells in the same row or column. Select the cell(s) containing the content you want to use. The fill handle appears as a small square in the lower-right corner of the selected cell(s).

Which of the techniques is used to easily copy a function or formula to the next cell?

You can quickly copy formulas to adjacent cells using thefill handle. When you drag the handle to other cells, Excel displays different results for each cell.

How do you use the value of a cell with a formula in another cell?