Using the Fill Feature in Google Sheets
Hi everyone today I’m going to show you how to use the Fill feature in Google Sheets. This handy tool can save you tons of time by automatically filling in data, whether it’s continuing a pattern, copying formulas, or even completing a series like days of the week. If you’ve ever found yourself manually typing out repetitive information. Let’s Get started with the first way to use the fill feature.
1. Autofill With Series
First up, let’s talk about how to autofill a series in Google Sheets. If you start a series like days of the week or months of the year, Google Sheets can continue the series for you automatically.
Using the Fill Feature in Google Sheets
For example, if you type “January” in one cell and “February” in the next, you can select both cells and drag the fill handle, the small blue square at the bottom-right corner of your selection to automatically fill in the remaining months. This is a huge time-saver, especially when you’re working with long lists.
2. Numbered Lists
Next, lets take a look at using numbered lists using the fill feature. To start off the series type “1” in one cell and “2” in the next, you can drag the fill handle to continue the pattern with “3,” “4,” and so on.
This method can also work with numbers that don’t just just increase by one, for example “5”, “10”, “15” and so on. This feature is a quick and easy way to fill lists of numbers without having to manually write it.
3. Formulas and Functions
Finally, let’s talk about using the Fill feature with formulas. If you’ve got a formula in one cell and you want to apply it to adjacent cells, simply drag the fill handle.
Google Sheets will automatically adjust the cell references for you, making it incredibly easy to apply the same calculation across multiple cells. This trick is perfect for quickly expanding a formula to cover an entire row or column.
Video: “Using the Fill Feature in Google Sheets”
About the Author
Dylan S is a 4th year Design Studio student, at a high school in Toronto, Canada. As the summer intern at Contextures, Dylan is adding spreadsheet and video skills to his repertoire. We’re excited to see him share those new skills online, through his videos and articles.
