Use Copy & Paste to Preserve References to Tables [Quick Tip]

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With Excel 2007, Microsoft has introduced a powerful and useful feature called as Tables. One of the advantages of Tables is that you can write legible formulas by using structural references. That means, you can write easy to understand formulas like this,

Structural references in Excel Tables - Example

[Help on SUMIF formula]

But, there is a problem. When you write these formula and drag the formula cell sideways to fill remaining cells, Excel changes table column references and thus makes your formulas almost useless.

Well, there is a simple workaround for this problem.

Use copy & paste.

Instead of dragging the cell to fill formulas, you can use copy & paste to fill the formulas. In this case, Excel will preserve all table references while changing the cell references accordingly. See this demo to understand:

Preserve Table References while Copying Formulas

Share your Table Tips & Tricks

Ever since I discovered the tables feature in Excel 2007, I have been using them to save time and simplify my work with data. Tables have several useful features that make life simple for analysts and data junkies everywhere.

What about you? Do you use Excel Tables? What are your top table tricks? Please share using comments.

More on Excel Tables

If you are using Excel 2007 or above, I encourage you to learn Excel Tables. They will make your life simpler. Go thru below articles to learn more,

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