Excel 2000 in a Nutshell

Name

Edit → Paste Special

Synopsis

The Edit → Paste Special command also pastes the selected contents of the clipboard in a specified worksheet location. Use this option for copying formats from one location to another or for switching the contents of a row to a column. Keep in mind that if the Windows Clipboard is active, the Paste Special option only pastes the last item copied to the clipboard. The paste selections are specified on the Paste Special dialog shown in Figure 4-3.

Figure 4-3. Paste Special dialog

Select the option in the Paste section that indicates how you want to paste the selected information into the worksheet. If you select the All radio button, the entire contents of the selected cells will be pasted into the new location, just like selecting Edit → Paste. This includes not only the value of the cell, but also any formatting, comments, or data validation that have been applied to the cells.

If you indicate that you want to paste only the comments, data validation, or formats, the existing values in the cells where you are pasting will not be modified. If you paste the formulas, the values will only change if a formula is pasted in the cell. For example, if you copy cells A1 through A4 and cell A4 contains a formula, when you paste into cells B1 through B4 only the value in B4 will change.

If you select the Values radio button, only the values of the selected cells ...