Excel Entering Data
Excel Entering Data shows the different ways to type, edit, and quickly fill data into a worksheet.
Selecting a Cell and Typing
Click a cell to make it the active cell, then simply start typing. Press Enter to confirm and move down one row, Tab to confirm and move one column right, or click a different cell to confirm and jump straight there.
Data Types Excel Recognizes
- Numbers, such as 10 or 3.5
- Text, such as Product Name
- Dates, such as 1/5/2026
- Currency and percentages, such as $50 or 25%
- Formulas, which always begin with an equals sign
Editing Existing Data
To change a cell you already filled in, double-click it, or select it and press F2, to edit its contents directly in the cell. Press Escape at any point to back out without saving your edit, or press Enter to confirm the change.
AutoFill and Flash Fill
AutoFill lets you drag the small square (the fill handle) at the bottom-right corner of a selected cell to extend a pattern, such as continuing a list of dates or copying a formula down a column of totals. Flash Fill goes a step further: type an example of how you want data reshaped in an adjacent column, and Excel offers to fill in the rest of the pattern automatically.
Example
=A2*1.1
