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Excel - Double Clicking the Fill Handle to Copy Formulas - Time-Saving Excel Trick! - Episode 607

1,735 views · Published 7 April 2009 · 3:18 · Indexed 10 November 2026

Channel: MrExcel.com · 2009 · Education

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Microsoft Excel Tutorial: Double Clicking the Fill Handle to Copy Formulas - Time-Saving Excel Trick!

Welcome back to the MrExcel netcast! In this video, I'll be sharing one of my favorite Excel tricks - double clicking the Fill Handle. This simple trick allows you to quickly copy a formula down to all the rows in your data set, saving you time and effort.

Let's say you have a formula that concatenates the city, state, and zip code in your data set. Instead of manually dragging the fill handle down to copy the formula, which can be a pain if you have a large data set, simply double click the fill handle. This little square dot in the lower right-hand corner of the cell will automatically copy the formula down to all the rows in your data set.

However, there are some things that can go wrong when double clicking the Fill Handle. For example, if you insert a new column in between your data and move your formula to that spot, Excel may not know how far to copy the formula down. To avoid this, you can hide the column to the left of your formula and then double click the Fill Handle. This will ensure that Excel copies the formula down to the correct number of rows.

It's also important to note that Excel generally looks to the left when determining how many rows to copy. However, if you have something immediately below your formula, that will take precedence. So if you have a formula in Column I that goes down to Row 14, and you type a new formula in the same column, double clicking the Fill Handle will copy the formula down to all the rows before Row 14.

I hope you found this Excel tip helpful! Don't forget to hit Ctrl+. to make sure you're at the end of your data before double clicking the Fill Handle. Thanks for watching and be sure to check out our other netcasts for more Excel tips and tricks. See you next time!

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Table of Contents:
(00:00) Introduction to the MrExcel netcast with Bill Jelen
(00:18) Favorite Excel trick: double clicking the Fill Handle to copy formulas
(00:28) Using the Fill Handle to concatenate data in a formula
(00:41) Alternative to dragging the Fill Handle: double click for faster copying
(01:08) Potential issues with double clicking the Fill Handle
(01:31) Hiding columns to ensure proper copying with the Fill Handle
(01:45) Using Ctrl+. to navigate to the end of the data
(01:55) Interesting trivia about how Excel chooses the number of rows to copy
(02:05) Clicking Like really helps the algorithm
(02:27) The importance of having a cell immediately below the formula when using the Fill Handle
(02:53) Conclusion and thanks for watching the MrExcel netcast.

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My favorite Excel trick is to double-click the fill handle to copy a formula down to all of your rows of data. In Episode 607, Ill take a look at many different details of the double-click trick.

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