Office 2013 In Depth

Filling and Entering Series

The capability to automatically fill cells with information is a useful and time-saving trick that can help you avoid data entry drudgery and also decrease the possibility of data entry errors in your worksheets. A couple different techniques help in filling cells with information.

We discussed the new Flash Fill feature earlier in the chapter. Flash Fill is used primarily to separate into multiple columns text information that has been lumped together in a column. For example, if you have to fix a poorly designed worksheet where first and last names have been combined in a single column; the Flash Fill feature helps you “type” the first names into a new column as soon as it recognizes the “entry” pattern for the information. ...