Stopping Excel from Incrementing Numbers When Dragging Down

Disabling Auto-Increment in Excel Forms

To prevent Excel from auto-incrementing values when populating a form, users can copy and paste the desired value into the first cell, then select that cell, and drag the fill handle down while holding the right mouse button. Release the mouse button when reaching the end of the required range and select 'Copy Cells' from the context menu. This will fill the cells without incrementing the numbers.

Preventing Autofill Number Increment on Large Data Sets

For quickly filling multiple rows, such as 8000, with the same content like '30/31/32/33/34' without incrementing, users can enter the content into the first cell, and then double-click the fill handle. This action will fill all the cells in that column up to the bottom of the contiguous range of cells directly to the left, with the exact same content, assuming there are no gaps in the data of the adjacent column.

Alternative Method for Non-Contiguous Ranges

If double-clicking does not work due to gaps in the adjacent column or if you are filling non-adjacent rows, select the first cell with the content, then hold the 'Ctrl' key and drag the fill handle down to the desired cell range. This will fill all selected cells with the same value without adding numbers.

Common Use Cases

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  Preventing the automatic increment of date series when copying a single date across multiple rows
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  Maintaining the same value in a cell when creating a list by dragging down the fill handle
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  Copying a formula exactly as is without changing cell references when filling down a column
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  Avoiding the generation of sequential numbers when dragging to extend a list of identical numbers

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