Excel How-To

How to fill a series of numbers or dates in Excel

Filling a series is a time-saving feature that allows you to automatically generate lists of numbers, dates, or time intervals without manual entry.

Step by step

1
Enter the starting value
Type the first number or date of your sequence into a cell.
2
Use the Fill Handle
Hover your mouse over the bottom-right corner of the cell until the cursor becomes a black plus sign (+), then click and drag across the cells you want to fill.
3
Use the Series dialog for advanced options
Select the range, go to the 'Home' tab, click 'Fill' in the Editing group, and select 'Series' to define step values or stop values.

Hold the 'Ctrl' key while dragging the fill handle to force a sequence instead of copying the same value.
Double-click the fill handle to automatically fill down to the last row of your adjacent data.

Why does dragging the fill handle copy the same number instead of creating a sequence?

Excel defaults to copying if it doesn't detect a pattern; try entering the first two numbers (e.g., 1 and 2) and selecting both before dragging.