Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, 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: Copying Subtotals.

Copying Subtotals

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 13, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365


Excel has a handy feature that allows you to automatically add subtotals to a data list. (How to create subtotals is covered in other issues of ExcelTips.) You may be wondering, once the subtotals are in place, how you can copy the subtotals to a different worksheet. This is actually rather easy to do, if you follow these steps:

  1. Add your worksheet subtotals as you normally would.
  2. Collapse the information in the list so that only the subtotals are showing. (Click on the small 2 in the outline levels shown at the top of the gray area at the left of the worksheet.)
  3. Select the range of cells containing the subtotals you want to copy. (Do not select complete rows or columns; just select the range of cells.)
  4. Press F5. Excel displays the Go To dialog box.
  5. Click on Special. Excel displays the Go To Special dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  6. Figure 1. The Go To Special dialog box.

  7. Make sure the Visible Cells Only option is selected.
  8. Click on OK. Excel selects just the visible information from the range you specified in step 3.
  9. Press Ctrl+C to copy the rows to the Clipboard.
  10. Select the cell where you want to paste the subtotals.
  11. Press Ctrl+V to paste the information.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10677) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Copying Subtotals.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Understanding Fill Effects

Want to fill a drawing shape with more than just a color? Word allows you to use all sorts of fills, as described in this ...

Discover More

Using GEOMEAN with a Large List

When performing a statistical analysis on a large dataset, you may want to use GEOMEAN to figure out the geometric mean ...

Discover More

Changing Characters on Keyboard Keys

Want to assign some fancy characters to keyboard keys for characters you seldom use? There are a couple of ways you can ...

Discover More

Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2019 For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Error Generated when Trying to Copy a Worksheet

How successful you are in copying information in Excel depends on lots of issues. This tip examines how those issues can ...

Discover More

Swapping Two Cells

If you need to swap the contents of two cells in your worksheet, Excel provides a number of ways you can approach the ...

Discover More

Removing Spaces

Need to get rid of spaces in a range of cells? There are two ways you can approach the task, as described here.

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 8 + 8?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.