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: Turning Off AutoFill for a Workbook.

Turning Off AutoFill for a Workbook

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 23, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

The AutoFill feature of Excel can be a great timesaver when entering information. However, you may want to disable the feature for a particular workbook; perhaps you don't want the feature to be used by anyone using your workbook. Doing so is easy if you create a macro that can recognize when you are working with that particular workbook.

To turn off the AutoFill feature for a particular workbook, follow these steps:

  1. Open the workbook for which you want to disable the AutoFill feature. (It should be the only workbook you have open.)
  2. Press Alt+F11 to open the VBA editor.
  3. Using the Project window, select the ThisWorkbook object within the workbook you opened in step 1.
  4. Press F7. The Code window appears for the ThisWorkbook object.
  5. Within the Code window, enter the following two macros:
    6. Private Sub Workbook_Activate()
    Application.CellDragAndDrop = False
End Sub

    Private Sub Workbook_Deactivate()
    Application.CellDragAndDrop = True
End Sub
  6. Close the VBA editor.
  7. Save your workbook.

The first macro is only run when the particular workbook is activated. In other words, when the workbook attains focus or is selected. When a different workbook attains focus, then the second macro is executed.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2594) 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: Turning Off AutoFill for a Workbook.

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

Spell Checking Your Worksheet

One of the indicators of a well-done worksheet is if there are any spelling errors within it. Excel allows you to easily ...

Discover More

Pulling Apart Cells

Separating text values in one cell into a group of other cells is a common need when dealing with text. Excel provides a ...

Discover More

Determining the Hour of the Day

Need to figure out the hour represented by a particular time value? It's easy to do in a macro; just use the Hour ...

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Combining Columns

Need to concatenate the contents in a number of columns so that it appears in a single column? Excel has no intrinsic way ...

Discover More

Inserting a Radical Symbol

The radical symbol is used frequently in some branches of mathematics. If you want to insert a radical symbol in a cell, ...

Discover More

Deleting Old Data from a Worksheet

If you keep on-going data in a worksheet, some of your dataâ€"over timeâ€"may need to be deleted. If you have an ...

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.

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

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 2 + 2?

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 menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon 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.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2024 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.