Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Making AutoComplete Work for an Entire Column.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 6, 2019)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
The AutoComplete feature in Excel can be a great boon for data entry, making it very easy to enter multiple instances of the same text in a column. One of the constraints on the AutoComplete feature is that it only works on contiguous ranges of cells in a column. For instance, if you have data in cells B7 through B25, then AutoComplete will work just fine if you are entering data in cell B6 or B26. It will not, however, work in cells B5 or B27 if cells B6 or B26 are left empty.
The only way to get around this limitation is to make sure that you have something in every single cell in the range. Some people put characters, such as periods, in the cells they otherwise would have left blank. The problem with this, of course, is that the periods show up on a printout, and need to be removed as a final step of creating your worksheet.
A better approach is to use a non-printing character in the otherwise blank cells. Instead of a period, use a space. Better yet, you can use a 0 (zero) value. You can then instruct Excel to suppress the display of zeros in the display.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (1986) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Making AutoComplete Work for an Entire Column.
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2022-07-21 09:54:52
Ariana B
Is there any way to suppress the algorithm that Excel uses detects a header row in the list? Reference: "Autocomplete may not work" h t t p s :
/ / d o c s . m i c r o s o f t . c o m /en-us/office/troubleshoot/excel/autocomplete-not-work - - this says that "In Microsoft Excel, the Auto-Complete feature may not fill in the remaining characters if the algorithm that Excel uses detects a header row in the list."
2022-02-25 18:27:46
DRS
When you right-click on a cell, and select "Pick from drop-down list" from the dialog, then a dropdown box appears with the contents of the previous cells in that column. It would be very convenient if this was more streamlined. This appears to follow the same rules as the author has described for AutoComplete. I am assuming these functions are directly related under the covers. Is these any way that this AutoCompleteDropDownBox can be evoked in VBA (such as with a doubleclick or sendkeys) so that you wouldn't have to go through all the usual steps for this to appear?
2021-12-04 18:36:29
jane jones
I would like your Newsletter, but I have Excel V 2003 "Home & Student" which I hardly use now, and V 2016. I have just followed your tip in my 2016 regarding auto complete whole column and IT WORKED!!! I entered a space in a cell, then dragged it down a number of rows. The spreadsheets are for my records only and I will rarely print them.
I note you support the older versions, but I need help on my 2016 version - such as linking worksheets and cells etc. I managed it years ago in V 2003 but have forgotten how I did it!!
Will your weekly newsletter help me with v 2016?
Jane
2020-05-23 11:08:32
Willy Vanhaelen
When the cell at the right and/or the left of an empty cell in a column has data Excel considers this cell not as an empty cell for AutoComplete. Consequently this empty cell becomes part of the contiguous range in the column.
So, in this tip's example, B7 and B25 being empty, AutoComplete will work if cell A7 or C7 and A25 or C25 have data.
2019-07-12 02:47:52
Hello Frank
I think you can describe "it" as a limitation or a feature.
"It" works in one way in Excel and in another way in LibreOffice.
I expect if you ask a thousand people which way they prefer, you will get mixed answers. Some people may have something to do one day which favours the way "it" works in LibreOffice., and another day somethhung they do might work better if "it" works in the way it does in Excel.
Alan Elston
2019-07-11 11:16:06
Frank
LibreOffice does not have this idiotic limitation.
2019-04-09 03:29:52
There is a way to get the auto complete to work in a column where there are empty cells in that column, without putting anything in the empty cells. But it relies on some complicated inter dependencies / inter connection of adjoining filled cells in other columns
H t t p s : / / w w w .excelforum.com/the-water-cooler/1181732-small-trick-in-excel-2.html#post4636789
Alan Elston
2019-04-08 08:34:42
John
I prefer using the single quote character '. It does not print and does not require any special formatting to suppress.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here:
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