Turning Off AutoFill

Summary: AutoFill can be a great timesaver when adding information to a worksheet. Even so, some users may not want the feature to be available, so Excel provides a way to turn it off. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003, and Excel 2007.)

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:

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

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

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

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2958) applies to Microsoft Excel versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

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Turning Off AutoFill