One of the great things nearly working digitally is that it can cutting down on a lot of unnecessarily repetitive work. For example, if you lot must fill the same content into multiple cells in a spreadsheet, y'all can just re-create and paste the values to save fourth dimension.

Although, this can get a little tricky if you demand to copy formulas. Luckily, Excel has several ways to copy and paste formulas. But, at that place are a couple of things you need to proceed in mind when doing so.

Relative Cell References

Before we can jump into copying formulas, you need to know a niggling bit near how Excel references cells. Excel tracks the relation between the cells in the formula, not the actual cells.

For case, in the prototype below, cell C2 contains the formula A2 + B2. But thanks to relative cell references, Excel reads this as: add the cell that is two places to the left to the prison cell that is one identify to the left.

These relative cell references can be very handy. If you want to add the values on row iii and four in the aforementioned way you did for row 2, all you take to do is re-create the formula downward without worrying nigh changing the rows yourself. Excel updates the rows in each formula so that the cells to the left of that add together.

Yet, sometimes you don't want a prison cell's location to alter when y'all re-create a formula.

For case, let'due south say yous want to work out the sales tax on a series of products, as we've done beneath. If you add the sales tax to one cell, y'all want that cell to remain the aforementioned in the formula for each product. To exercise this, you demand to tell that Excel the location of that cell is stock-still, not relational. You practise this with a $ sign in front of the row, column, or both.

Adding the $ earlier the B tells Excel that no affair where we paste the formula, nosotros want to look at the B column. To stop the row from changing, we also added a $ before the 1. Now, no matter where we paste the formula, it volition always reference B1 for the revenue enhancement value.

As we copy the formula downwardly the column, the price location updates, merely the sales taxation location stays the same.

Using the F4 Keyboard Shortcut

In that location is a keyboard shortcut to toggle through a prison cell's reference options. When you're writing a formula and click on a jail cell, hitting F4 to fix that cell. For case, if you lot click on B1 and press F4, information technology changes the reference to $B$1. If you press F4 once again, the prison cell reference changes to B$1, and then to $B1, and finally back to B1.

Copying and Pasting a Formula Manually

The most familiar mode to copy and paste a formula is to re-create and paste the formula text inside a cell. This is similar to how you would copy and paste text in Discussion.

Copy the text past selecting the cell and right-clicking the formula at the meridian of the screen. This brings up a popup with various options, select Copy. You tin can also use the re-create push button in the ribbon, which is located in the Clipboard section of the Dwelling house tab.

And so unselect the text by pressing the Return cardinal. Finally, right-click the new jail cell you want to paste into and click on the clipboard icon or employ the Paste button in the ribbon. You tin also use the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl + C, to copy the highlighted text and Ctrl + Five to paste it once you select a new cell.

This method is familiar, but non one of the all-time means to copy a formula. If yous had to re-create a formula to multiple cells it would be fourth dimension-consuming. This method also copies your verbal text, then you don't get the benefits of relative cell references we talked near higher up.

Yous should only use this method if you only need to re-create the formula to a couple of places and you want the cells to remain exactly the same each fourth dimension.

A Improve Way to Copy a Formula in Excel

An easier way to copy the formula is to use copy and paste on the entire prison cell instead of only the text inside it. Click on the cell with the formula you wish to re-create. Then re-create it by either right-clicking on the cell, or using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + C.

Once you copy the cell, it will take a dashed greenish edge to show that you are currently copying it. Next, select the cell you want to paste the formula to. Then paste the formula past either correct-clicking on the cell, or using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + V.

This time, you'll discover the formula uses relative cell references. Instead of A2 + B2, a formula on the row beneath becomes A3 + B3. Similarly, if you pasted the formula in the next column in the row below, information technology would update to B3 + C3.

How to Drag a Formula Downwards a Cavalcade or Across a Row

The method above can still exist also time-consuming if y'all need to paste the same formula to multiple rows or columns. Luckily, there are two fifty-fifty quicker means to do this.

Starting time, y'all tin can re-create the formula as y'all did above, only instead of pasting it to one prison cell, you tin click and drag to select multiple cells and paste the formula to all of them by correct-clicking any the jail cell or using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Five.

The second fashion to paste the same formula to multiple rows is to elevate it. At the bottom-right corner of a selected cell, you'll meet a green square. Click on that foursquare and drag information technology over the cells you wish to re-create the formula to. This is probably the quickest way to re-create an Excel formula down a cavalcade or across a row.

Again, you'll see that Excel updates the formula to use relative jail cell references for each row or cavalcade that changes.

Paste Special

1 problem you may take when pasting a formula is that it as well pastes whatsoever styling to the selected cells. Styling includes elements similar the font size, cell outline, colors, or assuming settings. Pasting the styling is inconvenient if you use alternate line colors or if you outlined your table.

To solve this, Excel introduced Paste Special.

Employ Paste Special to paste just the formula without any of the styles that were added to the cell. To use Paste Special, right-click and select Paste Special from the popup menu.

A Recap of How to Copy and Paste Excel Formulas

Excel is optimized to reduce the number of repetitive tasks that yous need to complete. Adding the same formula to multiple cells is quick and easy to do in Excel. You tin re-create and paste formula text, much similar you would in a Give-and-take document. But if you want to have advantage of relative cell references, yous're meliorate off using different methods.

A proficient manner to copy a formula is by selecting the entire jail cell with the formula and copying that. If you demand to re-create a formula down a column or across a row, you lot tin as well drag the cell across the area yous want to copy information technology to, which is much quicker.

Both methods permit y'all to copy a formula to multiple cells quickly. Next time you create a spreadsheet, remember to try it out and save yourself some precious fourth dimension.

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Jennifer Seaton (21 Articles Published)

J. Seaton is a Science Writer that specializes in breaking down complex topics. She has a PhD from the Academy of Saskatchewan; her research focused on utilizing game-based learning to increase student engagement online. When she is not working, you lot will find her with her reading, playing video games, or gardening.

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