Excel 2010 Tips Autofill and Dates

Autofill is a feature which will copy content down a column or accrss a row.  However it also creates sequences, using the same technique, with things that it recognises as being part of a sequence.  One such is dates.

Enter the starting date of your sequence in Excel and ensure it is formatted as a date

Select the cell containing your date and drag down from the autofill handle (the autofill handle is the little black square in the bottom right hand corner of the active cell.

A tooltip will appear showing you the date that you have reached as you drag the autofill handle down or across you spreadsheet.

This method works with any date format 

and even with multiple columns

As well as full dates and days of the week, autofill will complete a sequence of months and complete a sequence of the three letter names for days of the week or months.  Simply enter the day or month you wish to start on and autofill will do the rest.

Excel 2010: The Watch Window

Data changes result in recalculations of totals which are not always visible, depending on your spreadsheet layout. To keep an eye on how these totals are being affected without dashing around your spreadsheet, collect the important totals into a Watch Window. You can then see the collective effect of your new data from wherever you are in your file.

To add a cell or cells to this window, select the Formula tab, Watch Window, and click the Add Watch button. Select the cell or cells to be watched and click Add. Continue by adding others in the same way.

The Watch Window