Flash Fill in Excel

by

Use flash fill in Excel 2013 or later to automatically extract or combine data.

Join

1. For example, use flash fill to join the last names in column A and the first names in column B to create email addresses.

2. First, tell Excel what you want to do by entering a correct email address in cell C1.

Worked Example:   Check multiple cells are equal in Excel

3. On the Data tab, in the Data Tools group, click Flash Fill.

Result:

Note: again, Excel does not insert formulas, if you change the text strings in column A or column B, Excel will not update the email addresses in column C.

Worked Example:   Understanding Cell Ranges, Auto fills, Copy/Paste, Insert Row, Column in Excel

Extract

1. For example, use flash fill to extract the numbers in column A below.

2. First, tell Excel what you want to do by entering the value 4645 into cell B1.

Worked Example:   Cell References: Relative, Absolute and Mixed Referencing Examples

3. On the Data tab, in the Data Tools group, click Flash Fill.

Result:

Note: Excel does not insert formulas, if you change the text strings in column A, Excel will not update the numbers in Column B.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.