Excel Practice
Lessons Lesson 14

Copy, Paste, Fill and Undo

About this lesson

Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X and Ctrl+V copy, cut and paste cells. Ctrl+D and Ctrl+R fill a selection down or to the right from its first cell. Ctrl+Z undoes the last action.

By the end you can

  • copy, cut and paste cells from the keyboard.
  • fill a selection down with Ctrl+D and across with Ctrl+R.
  • undo the last change with Ctrl+Z.

The idea

Copy, cut and paste are the keys everybody already knows. The two to add are the fills. Select a block with the formula in its top cell, and Ctrl+D copies it down the block. Select a row with the formula at the left, and Ctrl+R copies it across. Neither can go too far the way the drag handle does.

The difference that matters is cut against copy. Cutting a cell and pasting it elsewhere moves it. Every formula that pointed at it now points at its new address. Copying it, pasting it and deleting the original leaves those formulas pointing at an empty cell. That is a bug that shows up as zeros, not errors.

The mistake to watch for

Filling by dragging the corner handle across 200 rows. CtrlD fills a selection down from its top cell. CtrlR fills it right from its left cell. Both are exact, with nothing going too far. And CtrlZ puts back whatever a fill wrote over. Select first, then fill.

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The reorder level in D2 is right for the bracket too.

Copy D2 so it can be pasted elsewhere.

A1
Part
Row A B C D E F G
1 Part Bin Stock Reorder at
2 Hinge A3 140 50
3 Bracket A4 32 40
4 Bolt M6 B1 910 300
5 Washer B2 1200 500
6 Castor C1 18 12
7
8

Every step

  1. 1

    The reorder level in D2 is right for the bracket too. Copy D2 so it can be pasted elsewhere.

    Hint. Ctrl and the first letter of Copy.

  2. 2

    Move to D3 and paste what you copied.

    Hint. Ctrl and V.

  3. 3

    The castor row is in the wrong place. Cut it so it can be moved rather than duplicated.

    Hint. Ctrl and X.

  4. 4

    A formula in E2 needs to go all the way down to E6. Select E2 to E6 and fill it down from the top cell, without the mouse.

    Hint. Ctrl and D.

  5. 5

    Now a formula in B8 needs to run across to D8. Select B8 to D8 and fill it to the right from the leftmost cell.

    Hint. Ctrl and R.

  6. 6

    That fill went over the top of a total you needed. Put it back.

    Hint. Ctrl and Z.