Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 9, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
The AutoFill feature of Excel is very handy, allowing you to automatically fill cells with all sorts of information, based on the content of cells you select. For instance, if you fill two cells with the words "Monday" and "Tuesday," and then select those cells, you can drag the AutoFill handle to fill other cells with other days of the week.
What if you want to only fill cells with the workdays, Monday through Friday? This is easy to do if you make one small change in how you use the AutoFill handle. Instead of clicking and dragging it with the left mouse button, click and drag with the right mouse button.
When you release the button, a Context menu appears. Two of the options on the menu are "Fill Days" and "Fill Weekdays." If you choose Fill Days, then the range is filled with the names of the seven days of the week, the same as if you had used the left mouse button to do the AutoFill. The other option, Fill Weekdays, fills the range with the names of only the five days of the week, Monday through Friday.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2315) 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: AutoFilling with Weekdays.
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