Are you finding a way to duplicate the formulas in your spreadsheet by copy-pasting? If yes then read this article on how to copy a formula in Excel in different ways to improve your Excel skills and to make your everyday tasks hassle-free.
How to Copy a Formula in Excel?
Follow the below-mentioned steps to easily copy the formula on Excel.
- Choose the cell with the formula that you intend to copy.
- Press Ctrl + C on Windowsor Command + C on Mac.
- You can also select the Copy option from the clipboard group of the Home tab.
- Choose the cell where you want to paste the formula, if the cell is in the other worksheet then go there and click on it.
- Press Ctrl+ V on Windowsor Command + C on Mac or click the paste button from the clipboard options.
When you copy a formula in Excel to another place and paste it through the clipboard options then you will see an arrow icon. By clicking on it you will have some formula-specific-pasting options that you can choose. Here we have discussed the 4 of them.
- Formulas: It refers to pasting the formula without previous formatting.
- Formulas and number formatting: This means pasting the formula with number formatting like percent, currency, and other formats.
- Keep Source Formatting: This option will paste the formula including number formatting, and everything like the original one.
- Transpose: This option is used when you want to copy more than one cell. Copying the side-by-side row will paste them in a column. If the cell is in the column then it will paste in a side-by-side row. Also, this will paste the number formatting, font, font size, shading, and border.
How to Copy a Formula in Excel From the Selected Cells?
Follow the below steps to copy a formula from the selected cells in Excel.
- Select the cell with the formula.
- Hold the formula with the mouse and press Ctrl + D on Windows and Command + D on Mac simultaneously and drag it down.
- Or, if you want to copy a row instead of a column then select the row and press Ctrl + R on Windowsor Command + R on Mac at the same time and drag the mouse until you copied the formula at your desired place.
How to Copy a Formula in Excel Via Magic Trick?
Follow the below magic trick to make an exact copy of several formulas. Or if you intend to just copy one formula then you can do so by following the above copy-paste method.
- Choose multiple formulas.
- Replace the equal sign with xxx.
- Press Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V and paste the string.
- Select the column ranges, hold Ctrl, and choose the other column range where you want to paste the copied formula.
- Replace all the occurrences of xxx with equal signs.
How to Copy a Formula in Excel by Fill Handle?
Microsoft Excel also allows users to quickly copy a formula from the mouse. However, when you copy a formula in Excel by fill handle this will include the cell formatting like background, color, currency symbols, and others.
- Click on the cell that has the formula you want to copy.
- Here you will have a + sign, hold it, and drag the cursor down on the screen, when you start to drag the cursor a green line will show around the selected cells.
- Leave the cursor at a point where the desired formula is copied.
- Moreover, if you don’t want the same formatting then select the Auto fill and choose fill without formatting option.
You can also copy a formula in Excel from the entire column. For this, after selecting a cell that has the formula, double-click on the plus sign and it will copy a formula until the first row ends. However, if an empty row occurs in between then it will stop copying and you have to repeat the process to do so.
How to Move a Formula in Excel?
You can easily move a formula by pressing Ctrl + X and Ctrl + V on the Keyboard. Or, follow the below steps to move the formula with the help of a mouse.
- Select the cell with a formula and hover over the mouse on the vertical and horizontal arrow icon at the corner of the cell.
- Now, Hold the mouse button, and release it to the new position that you want to give to your formula.
FAQs
Q: How to enter a formula into multiple cells with a single keystroke?
A: To enter a formula in multiple cells, firstly select the cells where you intend to write the formula, press F2 to enter in an edit mode, write the formula, and press Ctrl and enter.
Q: How can I paste a formula in Excel on Mac?
A: You can easily paste a formula in Excel by pressing Command + V on Mac.
Wrap Up
Hopefully, this guide on how to copy a formula in Excel makes it easy to complete your daily tasks. There can be different situations to copy a formula whether you want to copy the formulas for a hundred lines of sheets or just want to move it to another place.
