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.

Turning Off AutoFill

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 25, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


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. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Edit tab of the Options dialog box.

  4. Clear the Allow Cell Drag and Drop check box.
  5. 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 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.

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

Underlining Quoted Text

Do you have a document in which you need to convert all the quoted text (text surrounded by quotes) to underlined text? ...

Discover More

Printing a Bookmark List with Contents

Bookmarks can be a great tool in Word, allowing you to easily remember the location of desired blocks of text. If you ...

Discover More

Counting the Results of a Formula Using Find and Replace

Need to get a count of a particular result from a formula? You can use Find and Replace (as described in this tip), but ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Skipping Rows when Filling

Using the fill handle is a great way to quickly fill a range of cells with values. Sometimes, however, the way to fill ...

Discover More

Quick AutoFill Variations

The AutoFill feature can be used for more than just incrementing information into cells. This tip explains how to access ...

Discover More

AutoFill Won't Work as Expected

AutoFill is a great tool for filling cells with data. What do you do when it doesn't work like you expect, however? ...

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.

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 five minus 3?

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.