Excel is the most intuitive spreadsheet application to use; however, when it comes to copying and pasting information, most users find it difficult to do so. You can copy and paste data in excel in several ways. You can copy and paste either individual cells, rows, columns, or the entire sheet using the following methods.
Copying values with formula results
When you copy and paste values with the results generated by excel formulas, it becomes hectic in excel. If you paste the results, the procedure will update automatically according to the cell where you are pasting. You can avoid this by copying only the actual values by
1. Select the cells with the values you want to copy.
2. Right-click on any cell and select “copy” on the menu.
3. Right-click on the first cell where you want to paste the values and select the ‘values icon” on the menu.
This process will copy and paste only the actual values and ignores all the automatic formula results.
Drag and Drop Method
This is where you drag a specific group of cells and drop them where you want them to be. This method is achieved by;
1. Highlight the cell you want to copy.
2. Left-click on the cells and hold to drag them to the new location and drop them.
Although this process saves you time, it acts as the control c and control p process, which stands for cut and paste. This process will delete the cells from their previous location.
Use Ctrl + D
This method is a shortcut for copying and pasting values downwards in a column. It is done by,
1. Select the cells in a column with the partition you want to copy.
2. Press “Ctrl + D”, and the values will be copied and pasted.
Use Ctrl + R
This shortcut serves the same purpose as Ctrl + D, only that the cells are copied and pasted sideways instead of downwards. The process involves copying values across an entire row by,
1. Select the cells in a row with the partition you want to copy.
2. Press “Ctrl + R”, and the values will be pasted on the right.
You can use Ctrl + D and Ctrl + R together for copying and pasting values for rows and columns. This method will save you time.
How to transpose in Excel
This process is a copy-and-paste method where you copy a column and paste the values into a row. It’s Transposing a column into a row. It is when you have a new sheet where items in a row are to be headers. You can do this by,
1. Highlight and select the cells you want to copy and transpose into a new sheet.
2. Switch to the new sheet and select the first cell.
3. Right-click on the cell, and under the paste options, select “transpose”.
4. Paste the values in the column into a row in the new sheet.
This process is fast and easy and saves you the trouble of copying and pasting the individual cells from one sheet to another.
You can use these few steps to copy and paste your work from individual cells to columns and rows. They save you a lot of time when you are working on your excel worksheet.