In today’s blog post, we will be discussing a very useful feature of Google Sheets: Autofill. This feature saves a great deal of time by automatically filling cells based on the pattern you provide. In this post, you will learn how to effectively use this tool.
What is Autofill?
Autofill in Google Sheets lets you fill cells with sequential numbers, text series, dates, and formulas. It’s a tremendous time-saver, especially when you are dealing with large datasets.
How to Use Autofill?
Numbers and Text
Filling a series of numbers or text with autofill is quite easy. Here’s how you can do it:
1. Enter a number or text in any cell.
2. Click on the cell to select it. You’ll see a blue box around your cell, and in the bottom right corner of the box, a little blue square. This is called the ‘fill handle.’
3. Click and drag the fill handle over the cells where you want your series to be filled. Release the mouse, and Google Sheets will fill these cells based on your initial value.
Dates
Autofilling dates works similar to numbers and text, but here Google Sheets recognizes patterns in dates as well. Here’s how:
1. Enter a date in a cell and select it.
2. Click and drag the fill handle over the cells you want to fill. Google Sheets will fill these cells with consecutive dates.
If you want to fill a custom date series like every other day or every Monday, enter the first two dates of the series and then drag the fill handle.
Formulas
Autofill also works with formulas. If you have a formula that you want to apply to a whole column or row, you can simply write the formula in the first cell and then use the fill handle to autofill the formula to other cells.
Here’s an example:
= A1 * B1;
Enter the above formula in a cell, select the cell, and drag the fill handle. The references in the formula will adjust according to the row or column number just like in Excel.
Conclusion
Autofill is a powerful tool in Google Sheets that can save your time by automatically filling cells based on the pattern you provide. Whether it’s numbers, text, dates, or formulas, autofill has got you covered.
