Make your own list – like the months in the year [VIDEO]

A Custom List Can Stop Entries Being Missed

Make Your Own Lists like January, February etc

When you drag a cell with January in it with the fill handle (the small cross at the bottom right corner of the cell), Excel creates a series with February and March etc. This is quick and useful. It also works for days of the week. Eg drag a cell with Monday in it to get Tuesday, etc. This is an example of a custom list.

You can create your own custom list. This is great for lists of departments, branches, employees or any other list that you frequently copy and paste from other sources. Once you have entered the first item of the list in a cell you can use the fill handle to create the other items in sequence.

See the video below for a demonstration of how to create a custom list.

You access this feature differently depending on which version you use. First select the range with the list you want to create. If the order of the list is important make sure the list is in the correct order.

In Excel 2003 and earlier versions it is in Tools menu > Options > Custom list tab.

In Excel 2007 click the round office button and select Excel Options on the next screen click the Edit Custom Lists button.

In Excel 2010 click the File Button click Options. Click Advanced option and scroll to the bottom of the options and click Edit Custom Lists.

Your range should be shown in the Import box. Click the Import button to create the list. Click Add then click OK as many times as required.

Your custom list is ready to use.

The other cells will matches the case (uppercase, lowercase or proper case) of the first cell used.

NOTE: the custom list is saved on your PC or laptop it isn’t available on other computers until you create it on those computers. You only need to create it once on each computer.

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