Turning Off AutoFill

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:

1. Choose Options from the Tools menu. Excel displays the Options dialog box.
2. Make sure the Edit tab is displayed. (Click here to see a related figure.)
3. Clear the Allow Cell Drag and Drop check box.
4. Click on OK.

If you are using Excel 2007, then you should follow these steps instead:

1. Click the Office button, then click Excel Options. Excel displays the Excel Options dialog box.
2. Click the Advanced option at the left of the dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
3. In the Editing Options area, clear the Enable Fill Handle and Cell Drag-and-Drop check box.
4. Click on OK.

Besides turning off AutoFill, the above steps also turn off the ability to drag the contents of a cell from one location to another.