How can we help you?

Enter data in a cell

Changes to the contents of a cell are made in the edit mode of the cell.

To enter edit mode, use one of the following methods:

Select an empty cell.

Left-click twice on the cell to be edited.

Select the cell that you want to edit and go to the formula line.

 

To enter or change data in a cell, do the following:

1.Activate the edit mode in one of the following ways:

Select an empty cell.

Double-click the cell you want to edit with the left mouse button.

Select the cell you want to edit and go to the formula bar.

2. Enter data into the cell.

3. Save the entered data in one of the following ways:

Press Enter (return Return).

Select another cell on the spreadsheet.

Use a comma "," as a delimiter for numbers.

The cell in which the data is entered is highlighted with a blue frame. When you edit a cell and simultaneously move around the sheet/spreadsheet, a floating editing window appears. The window displays the data that the edited cell contains at that moment. Click the cell name to quickly return to the cell.

To undo the changes you've made, press Esc while editing

Fill cells automatically

The autofill feature allows to automatically fill the data into adjacent cells.

If a cell with a formula is selected as a reference, the subsequent cells will be filled in with data sequences calculated using the formula specified in the cell. The values are automatically recalculated if the data in the formula cells change.

If you have entered data that make up a logical sequence, the cells will be filled in according to this sequence. If you have entered data that do not make up a logical sequence, they will simply be copied to the selected cells.

Fillable cells inherit the format of the sample range. To fill the cells automatically, do the following:

1.Enter data in a cell.

2.Drag the corner autofill handle over the range of cells that you want to fill in.

You can drag the corner autofill handle vertically or horizontally. If the range of cells to be filled exceeds the workspace boundaries, the workspace expands automatically.

Fill cells automatically with arithmetic sequences

You can fill in cells with arithmetic sequences. This type of sequence adds the difference between the previous two to each of the subsequent values. For example, 1, 2, 3, 4.

To autofill cells with an arithmetic sequence, do the following:

1.Enter the first 2 range values in the adjacent cells to set the reference.

2.Select the resulting range.

3.Drag the corner fill handle over the range of cells that you want to fill in.

Fill cells automatically with geometric sequences

You can fill in cells with geometric sequence. In this sequence view, each of the following values is multiplied by the specified progression denominator. For example, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2.

To autofill cells with a geometric sequence, do the following:

1.Enter the first 3 range values in the adjacent cells to set the reference.

2.Select the resulting range.

3.Drag the corner fill handle over the range of cells that you want to fill in.

Reduce the data range

If necessary, you can quickly reduce the range of data resulting from autofill. When you reduce the range, the data in the columns to the right or the rows at the bottom is deleted.

To reduce the range, follow these steps:

1.Select the range of cells with data resulting from autofill.

2.Move the mouse cursor over the corner marker of the selected cells so that the cursor looks like hand.

3.If you want to delete data in columns on the right side of the autocomplete range, drag the corner marker to the left. If you want to delete data in the rows at the bottom, drag the corner marker upward.

4.Release the left mouse button. All data in the columns or rows excluded from the range will be deleted.

Autofill cells with data sequences: basics

Cells can be filled with a series of integers, fractions, negative numbers, and dates and times.

If the sample range contains cells of different formats, the autofill series repeats the cell formats and sequences the cells in the order corresponding to the sample range.

If there is a text cell in the reference range, it will be copied when the series is filled automatically, whereas other cells will follow the specified sequence.

If a text cell is located between cells in a series that have different formats, the text will be copied when filling automatically, and cells of different formats will follow different sequences.

Cells of General and Number formats (Number, Currency, Accounting, Fraction, Percentage, Scientific) are considered as one sequence.

Date and Time are unrelated formats and are considered as separate sequences.

When filling with dates, the sequence is calculated based on the actual calendar difference.

If the sample range contains a merged cell, an identical merged cell is automatically created in the autofill range that continues the specified data sequence.

If a merged cell partially falls into the autofill range (also due to partial hiding), the merged cell is split.

For short and full weekday and month formats in Russian, English and French, data rows are extended according to the selected interface language.

It is possible to extend data rows as "text and number". The possibility is available if there are two or more filled cells as well as for consecutive data series.

Capitalization is inherited by the first cell in the selected data area.

The dot at the end of the abbreviation of the day of the week or month is not taken into account when performing the data series extension operation. If the number of characters in the full month name coincides with the number of characters in the short month name in the previous cell, then all subsequent data in the area will take the format of the full month name.

When extending rows, the data steps forward if you move the autofill marker down or to the right.

When extending rows, the data takes a step back if you move the autofill marker up or to the left.

Copy data

When copying data from a selected cell or range, it is copied to your computer's clipboard. This way, you can use them to insert into other applications, such as a text editor. The data in the source element remain unchanged.

To copy data, follow these steps:

1.Select a cell or a range of cells from which you want to copy the data.

2.Select the copy command in one of the following ways:

On the Edit menu, select Copy.

Click copy Copy on the Toolbar. If the window size does not allow to display the whole Toolbar, the command will be available by clicking more More on the Toolbar.

Right-click the selected item and select the Copy command from the context menu.

Press Ctrl+C (command Cmd+C).

After copying the data to the clipboard, the copied cell or range of cells is outlined with a blue dashed line.

Cut data

When you cut the data, it is deleted from the cells or a range and copied to the clipboard. Not only is the contents of the cell cut, but also its formatting is copied.

To cut data, follow these steps:

1.Select a cell or a range of cells from which you want to cut the data.

2.Select the Cut command in one of the following ways:

On the Edit menu, select Cut.

Click cut Cut on the Toolbar. If the window size does not allow to display the whole Toolbar, the command will be available by clicking more More on the Toolbar.

Right-click the selected item and select the Cut command from the context menu.

Press Ctrl+X (command Cmd+X).

Paste data

You can paste pre-copied or cut data from the clipboard. If you have copied or cut a range of cells, the data will be in a range of the same size when you paste it.

If you paste data into non-empty cells or ranges, the previous data will be deleted without warning. If you pasted data by mistake, press Ctrl+Z (command_transparent Cmd+Z) to cancel.

You can paste data from the clipboard with or without saving the original formatting.

To insert data while keeping the original formatting, follow the steps below:

1.Select the cells or a range of cells to where you want to insert the data.

2.Run the paste command in one of the ways:

In the Command menu, select Edit > Paste to paste all the copied data, including formulas and formatting, or Paste values and format to paste text (with the result of the calculation, if there are formulas) and formatting.

On the Toolbar, click insert Paste or click the arrow to the right of the insert Paste button on the Toolbar and select Paste values and format. If the window size does not allow to display the whole Toolbar, the command will be available by clicking the more More button on the Toolbar.

Right-click on the selected item and select Paste from the context menu to paste all the copied data, including formulas and formatting, or Paste values and format to paste text (with the result of the calculation, if there are formulas) and formatting. To paste the value via the context menu, give the browser permission to access the clipboard.

Click Ctrl+V (command Cmd+V).

In Safari 13.1 and earlier versions you cannot use the context menu to paste data.
In Mozilla Firefox, you cannot paste using the context menu or keyboard shortcuts.

When you paste data without saving the original formatting, only text is pasted from the clipboard. That means that when you insert a formula, a shape with text or a link, only the text within these elements is inserted into the document. If the copied or cut fragment contains images, they are not inserted into the document.

To insert data without formatting, follow the steps below:

1.Select the cells or a range of cells to where you want to insert the data.

2.Run the paste command in one of the ways:

In the Command menu, select Edit > Paste values only.

Right-click the selected item and select the Paste values only command in the context menu.

When you paste data without saving the original formatting, only text is pasted from the clipboard. That means that when you insert a formula, a shape with text or a link, only the text within these elements is inserted into the document. If the copied or cut fragment contains images, they are not inserted into the document.

To insert data without formatting, follow the steps below:

1.Select the cells or a range of cells to where you want to insert the data.

2.Run the paste command in one of the ways:

In the Command menu, select Edit > Paste values only.

On the Toolbar, click insert Paste or click an arrow to the right of the insert Paste button and select Paste values only. If the window size does not allow to display the whole Toolbar, the command will be available by clicking the more More button on the Toolbar.

Use the Ctrl+Alt+V (command Cmd+option Option+V) keyboard shortcut.

To paste a previously copied fragment into a merged cell, the first row and column containing that cell must be selected when pasting.

Mozilla Firefox web browser doesn't allow you to access the clipboard via the command and context menus. Inserting text is only available with the Ctrl+V (command_transparent Cmd+V) shortcut.

Delete data

To delete the contents of a cell, do the following:

1.Select a cell or a range of cells that you want to clear.

2.Press Delete (Fn+Backspace) or Backspace.

If you pasted data by mistake, press Ctrl+Z (command_transparent Cmd+Z) to cancel.
Was this helpful?
Yes
No
Next
Number formats