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: Using AutoComplete with Disjointed Lists.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 19, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
The AutoComplete feature of Excel is pretty handy. When you are entering information into a cell, it automatically provides you with a list of the previous entries in the column that match what you've typed. Thus, if you type the letter T, then it lists all those entries starting with T. When you type the second letter, R, then it reduces the list to all those entries starting with TR.
There is a limit to AutoComplete, however: It will only search for matches in the column until it hits a blank cell. For instance, if you have values in the cells in A3:A17 and in A19:A26 (cell A18 is blank), then when you start to enter information in cell A27, only the entries in the range A19:A26 are used to display the AutoComplete list.
If you want to have Excel use everything in the full range (A3:A26) as fodder for the AutoComplete list, then there is no way around it—you will need to enter something in the blank cell (A18). A good choice is, perhaps, a single space. Select A18, hit the space bar, and then press Enter. The cell now contains a space, and AutoComplete will reference the entire range (A3:A26) when entering information into A27.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3266) 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: Using AutoComplete with Disjointed Lists.
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2023-08-21 12:45:50
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, A18 being empty, AutoComplete will work if cell B18 has data.
2023-08-21 00:45:16
GFIN Sunny
Thanks for free and very informative advice, with my work which would helped by Keyboard Text Replacement (term borrowed from Apple iPhone) for Windows Apps, it would help if there is VBA or script to autocomplete from different column so that I have a pool of columns designated for different purpose (such as File Naming, Email Subject, Teams Chat).
Keyboard Text standardization would reduce search effort later down the road.
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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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