Microsoft Excel XP/X
Editing Cell Contents
This document will cover various editing techniques used with Excel software. Such techniques include the following:
Moving Information
Often, your first approach at organization will not be the same as your final organization. For this reason, you may want to reorganize information. Also, you may have the need for a similar formula in a second location. The Drag & Drop, Cut & Paste, and Copy & Paste options will help you do this without having to recreate the entire worksheet.
Drag & Drop vs. Cut & Paste
Drag & Drop allows you to move the information from a single cell or a range of cells. Drag & Drop is great for moving short distances, but challenging for moving to cells that are not displayed on the current screen. The Excel default settings will warn you if you try to drop on cells that already contain information. Cut & Paste is the better method when moving information over long distances
Moving Information: Drag & Drop
Unlike your word processor, where it does not make much difference if you drag and drop text rather than cut and paste it, the difference is significant when formulas are involved. When using the drag and drop method, cell references are updated.
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Select the cell(s) you want to move
NOTES:To select an individual cell, click that cell.
To select multiple contiguous (touching) cells, click and drag across the cells you wish to select. -
Point to and click the heavy border surrounding the cell(s)
Windows: The mouse pointer changes to an cross
.
Macintosh: The mouse pointer changes to a hand
.
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Holding the mouse button, drag the cells to the new location
NOTE: An outline of the cell(s) you are moving will appear over the new location. As you move the cell(s), a box appears next to the pointer telling you the cell location. -
When you reach the new location, release the mouse button to drop the cell(s)
WARNING: If information already exists at the new location, a dialog box will appear asking you if you want to replace the information.
Undoing Drag & Drop
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From the Edit menu, select Undo Drag and Drop
OR
On the Standard toolbar, click UNDO
Moving Information: Cut & Paste
When using cut and paste, double check formulas to ensure that the cell references were properly updated.
WARNING: The Excel Paste command works differently from most Windows programs. Information remains on the clipboard only until another action is executed (e.g., typing information in a cell).
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Select the cell(s) you want to move
NOTES: To select an individual cell, click that cell.
To select multiple contiguous (touching) cells, click and drag across the cells you wish to select. -
From the Edit menu, select Cut
OR
On the Standard toolbar, click CUT
A moving border appears around your selection. -
Select the cell where you want the cells to be pasted
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From the Edit menu, select Paste
OR
On the Standard toolbar, click PASTE
Copying Formulas
With a relative formula, the cell references change in relationship to the new location of the cell. For example, if you copied the formula from column A to B and the formula used a value in cell A12, the formula would now be referring to cell B12. If you cut the formula, it would refer to the original cell, A12.
With an absolute formula, in the same example, the cell reference to A12 would remain constant.
A formula can have both relative and absolute components. When formulas are created, they are created as relative. By adding a dollar sign ($) before either the column or row location or both, that reference becomes absolute.
When copying formulas, cell references are important to the result of the formula. If you want to copy the formula and look at cells with similar information one column over, a relative formula is the best choice. However, if you want to copy the formula and refer to the same cell (perhaps the wage rate of a student employee), you should be working with an absolute formula, not a relative formula.
NOTE: Absolute references are automatically updated for column and row additions and deletions.
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Copy & Paste
Copy & Paste is great for duplicating formulas, values, and labels without reentering them. The process for copying information is similar to copying in a word processor or other Windows applications. Refer to the Using the Fill Command section for another option for copying cell information.
WARNING: The Excel Paste command works differently from most programs. Information remains on the clipboard only until another action is executed (e.g., typing information in a cell).
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Select the cell(s) you want to move
NOTES: To select an individual cell, click that cell.
To select multiple contiguous (touching) cells, click and drag across the cells you wish to select. -
From the Edit menu, select Copy
OR
On the Standard toolbar, click COPY
A moving border appears around your selection. -
Select the cell where you want the cells to be pasted
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From the Edit menu, select Paste
OR
On the Standard toolbar, click PASTE
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To deselect Copy double-click outside the area just pasted or copied
Using the Fill Command
Instead of copying cells, you can use the Fill option to repeat information to contiguous cells. If the first cell contains a formula, the formula will be repeated in the additional cells. If the first cell contains text, the text will be repeated in the additional cells. However, with the Fill option, if Excel recognizes a pattern of information, the additional cells will contain the next item in the pattern. For example, if the first cell contains the day Sunday, Excel will fill the following cells with Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. Other examples include filling for the months of the year and hours of the day. You can even create your own custom fills.
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Select the cell(s) that contain what you want to repeat
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Click and hold the FILL HANDLE
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Drag to select new cells in the range
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Release the mouse button
The range will be filled with information from the original cell(s).
