Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Turning Off AutoFill.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 11, 2020)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365
The AutoFill feature of Excel is a great timesaver when you need to fill in a series of cells based on the content in other cells. It is also a feature that you can turn off, if you prefer. (For instance, the AutoFill handle visible at the bottom-right corner of a selection may be distracting to you, and you want to turn it off.)
To turn off AutoFill, follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Advanced options of the Excel Options dialog box.
Besides turning off AutoFill, the above steps also turn off the ability to drag the contents of a cell from one location to another.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (6129) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Turning Off AutoFill.
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