Buzz
Copying formulas is different from copying data in Excel such as values, formats, or comments... Depending on the job requirements, you choose how to duplicate formulas appropriately. When dealing with similar calculations or methods, retyping identical formulas can be time-consuming and laborious. In such cases, duplicating formulas is the most sensible solution.
GUIDE ON DUPLICATING FORMULAS IN EXCEL
Imagine you have an Excel spreadsheet as shown below and you need to copy formulas from cell G3 and H3 down the cells in column G and column H.
In the Total Score and Average Score columns, formulas have already been entered and results are available. Now you can copy by:
Method 1: Normal Copy in Excel
Select the 2 cells G3 and H3 -> right-click and choose Copy (Ctrl+C) then select the range from G4 to H10 -> right-click and choose Paste (Ctrl+V). Excel will copy both the formula and the format of cells G3 and H3. The result will be as shown below:
As you can see, when using this method, both the formula and the format are copied down to the remaining cells.
Method 2: Copy Formula Using Special Method (Copy - Paste special...)
While the normal copy method copies both the formula and the format down to the cells below, with the special method, you can choose to only copy the formula without altering the format.
Step 1: Select the 2 cells G3 and H3 -> then right-click and choose Copy (Ctrl+C)
Step 2: Select the range from G4 to H10 -> then right-click and choose Paste Special...
Step 3: The Paste Special window appears -> choose Formulas -> then click OK to complete:
The result is you'll see only the formulas copied down, while the format of G3 and H3 remains unaffected in the cells below.
With the two methods of copying formulas in Excel introduced above, you should adaptively choose the one that fits the specific situation.
If you need to copy formulas containing references in Excel, you can refer to the article on copying formulas containing references in Excel shared by Mytour. Best of luck to you!
