Fill Down and Fill Right in Excel (Ctrl+D, Ctrl+R)

The Excel fill down shortcut is Ctrl+D (⌘D on a Mac): it copies the top cell of your selection into every cell below it. Ctrl+R (⌘R) does the same thing to the right. Together they let you write a formula once and copy it to a whole column or row in one keystroke. This guide shows how to use both, what happens to the cell references, and the mistakes to avoid.

How to use the Excel fill down shortcut (Ctrl+D)#

To fill down, select the cell with the formula and the empty cells below it, then press Ctrl+D (⌘D on a Mac). Here is a small sales table:

1. In D2, type =B2*C2 and press Enter. D2 shows 540.
2. Click D2, then hold Shift and press ↓ four times to select D2:D6.
3. Press Ctrl+D (⌘D on a Mac).

Every row now has its revenue: 540, 408, 449.55, 577.5 and 294.5. On a Mac, Ctrl+D works as well as ⌘D.

How to fill right (Ctrl+R)#

Ctrl+R (⌘R on a Mac) copies the leftmost cell of the selection into the cells to its right. Say C7 holds =SUM(C2:C6), the total units (810). Select C7:D7 and press Ctrl+R. D7 gets =SUM(D2:D6), the total revenue: 2269.55.

Fill Right is handy for monthly reports, where the same total is needed under every month's column.

What happens to cell references when you fill#

When you fill, Excel moves each relative reference by the same distance as the copy. Click D4 after the fill above and the formula bar shows =B4*C4, not =B2*C2. Each copy uses the cells in its own row.

Filling right moves the column letters instead: =SUM(C2:C6) became =SUM(D2:D6).

That's usually what you want. But if every row must use the same cell, like a tax rate in F1, lock it with dollar signs: =B2*(1+$F$1). A reference with $ signs doesn't move when you fill. How to copy a formula without changing its references explains every way to do it.

Fill Down with only one cell selected#

If you select only one cell and press Ctrl+D, Excel copies the cell directly above it. That's a quick way to repeat the value or formula from the row above, one cell at a time.

It's also the most common Fill Down surprise. If you click D2 alone and press Ctrl+D, Excel copies the header from D1 into D2. Press Ctrl+Z (⌘Z) to undo, then select D2:D6 and try again.

Other ways to fill: the fill handle#

The fill handle is the small square at the bottom-right corner of the selected cell. You can use it instead of the shortcut:

• Drag it down or across to fill the cells you drag over.
• Double-click it to fill down as far as the column next to it has data. With the table above, double-clicking D2's fill handle fills D2:D6 in one move.

The double-click stops at the first blank cell in the neighbouring column, so check the last row after you use it.

The fill handle can also continue a pattern. Type 1 and 2 in two cells, select both and drag the handle: Excel continues 3, 4, 5. A date dragged with the fill handle goes up one day per cell, because Excel stores dates as numbers. Ctrl+D never makes a series: it copies the top cell exactly.

Fill a whole range at once with Ctrl+Enter#

To put the same entry into many cells at once, select them all, type the value or formula, and press Ctrl+Enter (⌃Return or ⌘Return on a Mac). Excel enters it in every selected cell, and relative references adjust just as they do with Fill Down.

Fill Down vs copy and paste#

Fill Down and copy and paste do the same job for neighbouring cells. Fill is faster when the target cells are right next to the source. Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V (⌘C and ⌘V) work anywhere, even far away or on another sheet, and you can paste the same copy many times.

Both shift relative references the same way. Cut (Ctrl+X or ⌘X) is different: it moves a formula without changing its references. You can try all three in the copy, cut and paste lesson.

Common Fill Down mistakes#

Watch for these when you fill:

• The formula isn't in the top cell of the selection. Fill Down always copies the top cell. Fill Right always copies the leftmost cell.
• Filling over data. Fill replaces whatever is in the target cells, including their format. If you fill too far, press Ctrl+Z (⌘Z).
• A reference that should be locked. If every row after the first shows 0 or the wrong number, a rate or total probably needs $ signs.
• Formats you didn't want. Fill copies the format too. If the top cell is formatted as currency, so is every filled cell. Here's how to format numbers as currency, percent and dates if you need to change them.

Filling with the keyboard instead of copying cell by cell is one of the Excel shortcuts interviewers notice.

Practise Fill Down and Fill Right#

You'll remember Ctrl+D much better once you've used it a few times. Open the Fill Down and Fill Right lesson to fill a revenue column, check how the references moved and copy a SUM across with Ctrl+R. Then try the copy, cut and paste lesson to see how copy and cut treat references differently.