Excel Drag and Drop (Table of Contents)
What is Drag and Drop in Excel?
Drag and Drop is an alternative to Copy and Paste in MS Excel. It is a way to move or duplicate data. Excel Drag and Drop option is also known as “Fill Handle”. It is the plus (+) icon which appears when the cursor is moved or hovered to the right bottom of a selected cell. The below image illustrates this option.
This plus icon can be dragged to top, bottom, left, or right.
How to Drag and Drop in Excel?
Let us see a few examples to drag and drop data in excel.
Example #1 – Copy Current Cell Value to other Cells
Let us say we have a value in cell A1 and we wish to fill or copy and paste this value to some other cells as well, say A1 through D10.
Let us see below how we can do this:
- Place the cursor to right bottom of cell A1. Now the plus icon use to drag this value to the right and down of cell A1.
- After that fill the range A1 through D1.
- In below, Drag and Drop cell A1 to D10.
- After doing this, we can see that there is a small square icon to the right bottom of these cells. When we click on this icon, we see the below available options.
So we can see in the above screenshot that the “Auto-Fill” icon has a dropdown with three options. In the above case, we have dragged and dropped from A1 through D10, by taking the value from A1 only.
On selecting this option, we would get a visual as below:
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Now for A1 through D10, let’s see how these dragged cells (i.e. A2:D10) look like when the option of Fill Without Formatting” is selected.
On selecting this option, we would get a visual as below:
Example #2 – Fill Serial Numbers
We can even insert or fill serial numbers with the “Fill Handle” option. Let us see how this works.
- Firstly two consecutive numbers are to be entered.
So we have entered two consecutive numbers: 1 and 2 in cells: A1 and A2.
- Now we select these two cells and then hover the cursor to the right bottom of these.
- Now drag and drop up to the row number we require the serial number. So let’s say we require serial numbers from 1 to 10, so we drag and drop up to row number 10.
So let’s see the working of this in Excel. Using the two numbers: 1 and 2 entered, Excel identifies the increment value from first cell to second cell. In this case, the increment value is 1 (from 1 to 2). So every time a value is dragged to the next cell, the next value is incremented by 1. Thus, we get serial numbers: 1 to 10 in this case since we have dragged up to row number 10.
Now let’s say we enter 2 and 4 as two consecutive numbers in cells: C1 and C2. We now wish to drag and drop and fill these multiples of 2 up to row number 10. Let us see below how this works:
So in this case, Excel identifies the increment value from the first cell to the second cell using the two numbers entered: 2 and 4. The increment value is 2 (from 2 to 4). So every time a value is dragged to the next cell, the next value is incremented by 2. Thus, we get multiples of 2: 2 to 20 in this case since we have dragged up to row number 10.
Example #3 – Fill Serial Numbers without any Pattern
We can even insert or fill serial numbers without guiding Excel with any predefined pattern using the “Fill Handle” option. Let’s say we require serial numbers from 1 to 10. Let us see how this works.
- Enter the value 1 in cell A1.
- Now we select this cell and then hover the cursor to the right bottom of this.
- Now drag and drop up to the row number we require the serial number. So let’s say we require serial numbers from 1 to 10, so we drag and drop up to row number 10.
After doing this, we can see that there is a small square icon, i.e. the “Auto-Fill” option to the right bottom of the dragged cells. When we click on this icon, we see the below available options.
So in order to get serial numbers incremented by 1, we choose the option: “Fill Series”. Now let’s see how these dragged cell values change when we select this option: So we get serial numbers from 1 to 10.
Example #4 – Fill one Cell Formula to all below Cells
We can even insert or copy one formula to all the below cells using the “Drag and Drop” option. Let’s say we have a dataset where we have income, expenditure, and savings of 3 persons in a month, where savings is calculated as: Income minus Expenditure:
Now we wish to copy this formula to the other two cells, but not using the copy-paste option but using the “Drag and Drop” option. To do this, select the initial or topmost cell containing the formula and then hover the cursor to the right bottom of this.
- Now we just need to double click on this position in order to drag and drop this formula to all the below cells.
So we can see in the above screenshot that the formula for savings is copied to the other two cells as well.
Things to Remember About Excel Drag and Drop
- Excel Drag and Drop option is often called as “Fill Handle”.
- Drag and Drop option can be used to paste or drag to a single row or column at a time.
- It is a technique to pick up a selection of cells, and then drop those to a new place on the worksheet.
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