AutoFill handle for Excel 2016 doesn't work

Question

Intermittently I've been running into issues where the auto fill handle will just stop working on my Excel sheets. When you mouse over the bottom right corner of the cell, the handle changes to the proper black plus sign looking one. However, when you double click to fill down, nothing happens. Since I'm doing this for an epoch date conversion, the regular fill box isn't working as it's just incrementing the date by 1 each time rather than following the formula/cells.

The options are enabled for the Autofill handle. I've tried disabling, re-enabling the handle, generating brand new sheets, everything I can think of.

So, for instance, using this formula {=((M2/1000)/86400)+(DATE(1970,1,1)-DATE(1900,1,1))} to convert epoch time, I'm unable to fill subsequent rows beneath the initial row it's input in. Every article I've found online simply shows you how to enable the feature but has zero feedback for troubleshooting beyond turning it on or off again.

Answer 1

Hi Beau,

Fill handle will work on double-clicking only if adjacent cell has the value.

"You can automatically fill a formula downward, for all adjacent cells that it applies to, by double-clicking the fill handle of the first cell that contains the formula."

To make it work, you must have the value in the adjacent cell, so Excel will understand till what row or column it must fill down.

Thanks,

Neha

Answer 2

My COM add-ins are as follows:

Inquire

Microsoft Power Map for Excel

Microsoft Power Pivot for Excel

Microsoft Power View for Excel

Attempted safe mode per your article: No effect.

Online Repair: No effect.

Still cannot double click fill handle to fill entire column with incremented formula. This has been confirmed on multiple machines. We use Studio3T to export a .csv file with database data. Previously, I was able to to fill. As of this last week however it simply stopped. It's likely a simple solution but I haven't found anything to get me anywhere near figuring out why it won't work.

I've also attempted to re-save as a standard excel workbook but it had no effect.

Answer 3

Hi Beau,

By default, the fill handle and drag-and-drop editing is turned on in Excel so that you can drag the mouse to move and copy cells. To make sure it’s enabled, go to File>Option>Advance and **Enable fill handle and cell drag-and-drop,**once enabled, this option is enabled for all the sheets in the workbook.

You can further try the following suggestions:

1. Please check if you have any custom add-in installed which may be reflecting the behavior. To check, follow the steps below:
   • In the Excel application create a new document, click File > Options > Add-Ins.
   • At the bottom of the dialog box, change the Manage dropdown to COM add-ins, and select Go.
   • Clear the checkbox for any enabled COM add-ins. select OK.
2. Try running Excel in safe mode. For this, please check this article for detailed steps on how to start Office apps in safe mode.
3. Try Online repair
   • Click Start, in the search box typeRun
   • In the Run box, type appwiz.cpl and click OK.
   • Select **Microsoft Office 365,**click Change>Online Repair>Repair.

If fill handle still didn’t work, please provide the following information:

1. Provide the screenshot of Office 2016 Product Information. To get this screenshot, open Excel/Word 2016 on your system, click File>Account, capture the screenshot of all the information mentioned under Product Information.
2. Since when are you facing this issue? Is it after an update?
3. If possible, please check this on another computer to confirm if the issue is related to specific computer.

Thanks,

Neha

Answer 4

Hi Beau,

Did you check the above reply? Please update us if you need further help.

Regards,

Neha

Answer 5

Hi Beau,                  

Make sure you have Enabled fill handle and cell drag-and-drop from File>Options in the Advanced category, under Editing options.

Create a new workbook, type 1 in A1, 2 in A2; select A1:A2; move mouse point to fill handle (note change in cursor shape - see screen shot); drag down to A10.

To utilize fill handle, you must drag the fill handle to copy data or to fill adjacent cells with a series of data.

If this didn’t work, please provide a short video showing the steps to reproduce the issue. This will give us better understanding of the issue. You can use PowerPoint to record the video. in PowerPoint, click Insert > Screen recording. Save the video and upload it in the private message. Please click here to access your PM.

Thanks,

Neha