Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Office 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: Copying a Cell without Formatting.

Copying a Cell without Formatting

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated March 30, 2019)

1

If you want to copy the contents of a cell without formatting, you can easily do so by using the Paste Special feature of Excel. Simply follow these steps:

  1. Select the cells whose contents you want to copy.
  2. Press Ctrl+C to copy them to the Clipboard.
  3. Select the cell where you want to paste the contents.
  4. Display the Home tab of the ribbon.
  5. Click the down-arrow under the Paste tool. From the options presented, choose Formulas.

In step 5 you could have chosen one of the Paste Values options, but Excel would not have transferred any formulas. Instead, it would have pasted the results of formulas, as if they were static values. In other words, to truly copy cell contents, you must use the Formulas option.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9045) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Office 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Copying a Cell without Formatting.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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What is 7 + 4?

2019-03-30 07:40:07

Alex B

I used to think what I wanted to do was copy "without formatting" but when it resulted in dates turning out as numbers I soon realised that a much better option was to include the Number format in the copying.
On the Paste Special Dialogue box on the right hand side you will find these options.
• Formulas and number formats (or right-click paste special drop down > button with %fx - 1st row)
• Values and number formats (or right-click paste special drop down > button with %2 - 3rd row)
I use the values and number formats enough to have it on the quick access toolbar.
In vba xlPasteFormulasAndNumberFormats & xlPasteValuesAndNumberFormats.

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