How to Copy and Paste in Excel (the right way for each job)

The basics

1. Select the cells.
2. Ctrl+C. A moving border appears.
3. Click the top-left cell of where it should go.
4. Ctrl+V.

Press Esc to clear the moving border when you’re done. Ctrl+X instead of Ctrl+C moves the cells.

Paste only the values

Copy, then Ctrl+Alt+V, choose Values, OK. Formulas become plain numbers. More options in Paste Special.

Keep column widths

After pasting, click the little Paste Options icon › Keep Source Column Widths.

Copy by dragging

Select the cells, hold Ctrl, drag the border. Without Ctrl, it moves them.

Copy a formula down a column

Double-click the small square at the bottom-right of the cell, or select the range and press Ctrl+D. See fill down.

Why did the numbers change after pasting?

Formulas shift with the cell: =A1*2 pasted one row down becomes =A2*2. Lock a reference with $ — absolute reference.

Copying a filtered list

Hidden rows can come along. Fix: copy visible cells only.

Paste into several cells

Copy one cell, select the whole target range, Ctrl+V. It fills every cell.