If you're still having problems, make sure that your filters are clear. AutoFill will override its normal determination (copy the selected value downward) by forcing a series of numbers into the filled cells. If, for some reason, you don't want to start with a selection of two cells, you could simply select one cell (A2) and hold down the Ctrl key as you drag the fill handle downward. Why? Because it can analyze the information you started to enter in the cells and use it to determine how to fill the remaining cells with a series of values. On the other hand, if you select cells A1:A2 and then drag down, AutoFill will increment the value placed into each of the cells. Why? Because you only started by selecting a single cell. If you select cell A2 and use the AutoFill handle to drag downward, what happens is that Excel fills each of the cells with the value 2. For example, enter the value 1 into cell A1 and the value 2 into cell A2. Deb is wondering how she can fix this.īased upon the described behavior, it sounds like Deb is trying to use AutoFill to create a series (1, 2, 3, etc.) when she isn't giving AutoFill enough information to determine that is what she wants to do. However, when she uses the AutoFill handle, it just pastes the same number in every cell. The 'Enable Fill Handle' box is checked in Excel options. Deb is trying to AutoFill record numbers in a column of her worksheet record 1 in the first cell, record 2 in the second cell, etc.
