Insert a formula

You can paste a formula without preserving the formatting of the cell from which it was cut or copied. In this case, the formatting of the cell into which it is inserted is applied to the formula.

The following insert commands are used for this purpose:

–Formula only: Only the formula is inserted into the cell without preserving the number format.

–Formula and number format:The formula is inserted into the cell while maintaining the number format.

Only the formula/formula and number format are transferred to the cells for insertion without:

–Visual formatting

–Conditional formatting

–Result of calculating the formula

–Notes

–Data validation

Formulas are inserted with the reference structure preserved.

To insert formulas, specify the place to insert:

–If the clipboard contains data from a single cell, row, or column, select the cell, row, or column to insert this data into.

–If the clipboard contains a range of cells, rows, or columns, select the appropriate size range or select the cell, row, or column into which to insert the contents of the first cell, row, or column from the range.

To insert only formulas, do one of the following:

–On the Home tab, in the Edit group, click the arrow to the right of the  Paste button. In the drop-down list, select Formula only.

–Open the context menu by right-clicking on the selected cells or on the contents of the selected rows or columns. Select the Paste special > Formula only command from the context menu.

To insert formulas while maintaining the numeric format, do one of the following:

–On the Home tab, in the Edit group, click the arrow to the right of the  Paste button. In the drop-down list, select Formula and number format.

–Open the context menu by right-clicking on the selected cells or on the contents of the selected rows or columns. Select the Paste special > Formula and number format command from the context menu.