Flash Fill in Excel

How to Use Flash Fill in Excel

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Flash Fill in Excel

Flash Fill is a feature in Excel that automatically enters values in a column when a pattern is recognized. It can save a lot of time when manually entering a long list of data, like consecutive values or dates.

Use Flash Fill

  1. Click the cell to the right of the data you want to work with.
  2. Type the first value you want to extract in the new column and press Enter.
    Flash Fill
  3. Begin typing the second value below the first.
    Flash Fill

    When you start typing in the second value, Excel recognizes the pattern and predicts the values for the rest of the column.

    If the pattern isn’t recognized when the second cell is populated, complete the data for the second cell and move to the third. The pattern should be recognized when you begin entering data in the third consecutive cell.

  4. Press Enter to accept the suggested Flash Fill values.

Excel populates the rest of the column following the same pattern of data.