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Excel

Step 1 - Using the Office Clipboard

Like all the Microsoft Office applications you can cut (or copy) cells from one location to another.

The easiest way to cut, copy and paste values is to use the Office clipboard. This is just a temporary storage area.

All the Microsoft Office applications share the Office clipboard which makes it very easy to cut and paste between applications.

When you cut (or copy) data you are just placing it on the clipboard.

You can cut, copy and paste data between different worksheets and workbooks using the clipboard.

Every time you cut or copy an item a short representation of that item appears on the Office clipboard.

You can display the Office clipboard at any time by pressing (Ctrl + C) twice with the same cells selected.

The clipboard task pane allows you to cut or copy two or more different ranges and then paste them back possibly in a different order.

For more information about the Clipboard task pane please see the Task Panes page.

Step 2 - Using (Edit > Cut )

There are several ways you can cut the current selection and place it on the clipboard.

1) Using the (Edit > Cut) menu.

2) Using the shortcut key (Ctrl + X).

3) Using the Cell Shortcut Menu and selecting Cut.

4) Using the Cut button on the Standard toolbar.

 Cut - Cuts the current selection to the clipboard.

When you cut your data and place it on the clipboard the data does not actually disappear from its original location (until it is pasted).

This can actually be a useful feature as it allows you to cancel the operation by pressing the Escape key.

When you cut a cell (or range of cells) a dotted black line appears around the cut area to help identify the area.

You can only cut a single range of cells at a time.

If any formulas contain "relative" references to any cells that you cut and paste these formulas are changed automatically to match the new cell address.

If you cut a cell that contains a "relative" formula the formula does change.

Step 3 - Using (Edit > Copy)

There are several ways you can copy the current selection and place it on the clipboard.

1) Using the (Edit > Copy) menu.

2) Using the shortcut key (Ctrl + C).

3) Using the Cell Shortcut Menu and selecting Copy.

4) Using the Cut button on the Standard toolbar.

 Copy - Copies the current selection to the clipboard.

When you copy data it is not removed but a copy is placed on the clipboard.

Any formulas that refer to cells in the area that is being copied will automatically get adjusted.

When you copy a cell (or range of cells) a dotted black line appears around the cut area to help identify the area. This area is also known as the marquee.

The selected cells will remain on the clipboard until you either press ESC or youperform an operation that automatically clears the clipboard.

You can copy non adjacent blocks of cells at a time.

If you copy a non contiguous range of cells and paste it to a different location the data is pasted as a single range of cells and any missing cells are ignored.

If you copy a cell that contains a "relative" formula the formula does not change.

When pasting a block cells it is always best to select the top left cell before pasting.

Step 4 - Using (Edit > Paste)

There are several ways you can paste the current clipboard entry onto your worksheet.

1) Using the (Edit > Paste) menu.

2) Using the shortcut key (Ctrl + V). An alternative to this is just to press Enter.

3) Using the Cell Shortcut Menu and selecting Paste.

4) Using the Cut button on the Standard toolbar.

 Paste - Pastes the entry from the clipboard.

If you have copied a range of cells then it is easier to always select the top left cell as this tells Excel where to start pasting and will ensure that the source is pasted correctly.

Selecting cell B7 and pressing (Edit > Paste) will copy all the values to cells B7:C11.

The top left corner of the selected paste area becomes the top left corner of the pasted cells.

If you select a range of cells that is a different size from the range of cells you have cut or copied the original range of cells is still pasted (overwriting cells that you have not selected).

Regardless of the size of the range you highlight before, Excel will always paste the original copied data whatever its size.

The contents and the formats of any cells in the range where you paste your data will be overwritten. To avoid losing data make sure there is enough blank cells below and to the right of the top left cell.

If you only want to copy certain attributes of the cell instead of everything you can use the Paste Special command.

When you paste data into cells you may get the Paste Options Smart Tag displayed in the corner of the cell. This can be removed by changing your (Tools > Options)(Edit tab, "Show Paste Options button").

Pressing Enter to paste your data will not display this smart tag.

Step 5 - Pasting Multiple Times

It is possible to copy some data and paste it more than once. As long as the dotted line is still visible the information will still be on the clipboard.

Unlike dragging data you can copy it and then repeatedly paste it in different locations.

Using (Ctrl + V) will not actually empty the clipboard so you will be able to paste the contents more than once.

Using the Enter key though to paste your data will empty the clipboard meaning you can only press Enter once.

There are a few occasions where multiple pasting is not possible.

Step 6 - Using the Cell Shortcut menu

An alternative to using the (Edit) menu is to use the cell shortcut menu.

This can be displayed by selecting a cell and pressing the Right mouse button.

Step 7 - Things to Remember

Any formulas that refer to cells that have been cut and pasted elsewhere will have there cell references automatically changed.

You cannot cut any non contiguous selections.

It is possible to copy non contiguous selections though assuming the cells are in the same rows and columns.

You can use the Ctrl and Shift keys together to copy and insert cells.

If you are dragging large blocks of cells to specific locations on a worksheet it may be useful to reduce the current display of the worksheet by reducing the Worksheet Zoom percentage.