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: Copying a Cell without Formatting.

Copying a Cell without Formatting

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated November 20, 2021)

If you want to copy the contents of a cell without formatting, you can easily do so by using the Paste Special feature of Excel. Simply follow these steps:

  1. Select the cells whose contents you want to copy.
  2. Press Ctrl+C to copy them to the Clipboard.
  3. Select the cell where you want to paste the contents.
  4. Choose Paste Special from the Edit menu. Excel displays the Paste Special dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

    5. Figure 1. The Paste Special dialog box.

  5. Make sure the Formulas radio button is selected.
  6. Click on OK.

In step 5 you could have chosen the Values radio button, but Excel would not have transferred any formulas. Instead, it would have pasted the results of formulas, as if they were static values. In other words, to truly copy cell contents, you must use the Formulas radio button.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3012) 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: Copying a Cell without Formatting.

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. ...

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