Microsoft Office Professional 2010 Step by Step eBook

258 Chapter 9 Work with Data and Excel Tables

Another handy feature in Excel is the AutoFill Options button that appears next to data

you add to a worksheet by using the fill handle.

The AutoFill options allow you to specify the manner in which Excel fills a range of cells.

Clicking the AutoFill Options button displays a list of actions Excel can take regarding

the cells affected by your fill operation. The options in the list are summarized in the

following table.

Option Action

Copy Cells This copies the contents of the selected cells to the cells indicated by the

fill operation.

Fill Series This action fills the cells indicated by the fill operation with the next items

in the series.

Fill Formatting

Only

This copies the format of the selected cell to the cells indicated by the fill

operation, but does not place any values in the target cells.

Fill Without

Formatting

This action fills the cells indicated by the fill operation with the next items

in the series, but ignores any formatting applied to the source cells.

Fill Days,

Weekdays, and

so on

The appearance of this option changes according to the series you extend.

For example, if you extend the values Wed, Thu, and Fri, Excel presents two

options, Fill Days and Fill Weekdays, and you can select the one you want.

If you do not use a recognized sequence, this option does not appear.