Tip of the week # 533
5 February 2018

Easy way to convert formulas to values (Microsoft Excel) ^*

In the first tip of this year I wrote how to use the drag and drop technique to move or copy cells. (See tip_530.php if you missed it.) The disadvantage of this method is that the Paste Options button won't be displayed, so you won't be able to perform special copy and paste operations "on the fly", such as converting columns to rows and rows to columns). That said, it still offers a great trick if you want to paste values, not formulas.

Here's how:

1. Select the cell(s) that contain the formula.
2. Point to the border of the selection and wait until the mouse pointer appears as a combination upward-pointing arrow and four-headed arrow.
3. Press and hold down the right mouse button, drag the cell(s) to the new location and release the mouse button.
4. Select Copy Here as Values Only.

Related tips:
1. Tip # 530: Move or copy cells using drag and drop ( tip_530.php )
2. Tip #467: Display the Auto Fill Options on the fly ( tip_467.php )
3. Tip # 465: Keep the column width when pasting ( tip_465.php )
4. Tip # 35: How to quickly change columns to rows or rows to columns (tip_35.html )

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^* Unless stated otherwise, these tips were written for Microsoft Office 2010.