You can use the ROW function to get the row numbering in Excel. This shortcoming can be tackled using formulas in Excel. This means that if you move the row (or cut and paste it somewhere else in the dataset), the row numbering will not change accordingly. In the Fill Handle and Fill Series methods above, the serial number inserted is a static value. You can also use Excel functions to number the rows in Excel. Note: In case you have blank rows in the middle of the dataset, Fill Series would still fill the number for that row. Unlike Fill Handle, it doesn’t require the adjacent columns to be filled already.Įven if you have nothing on the worksheet, Fill Series would still work. Using ‘Fill Series’ can be useful when you’re starting by entering the row numbers. This will instantly number the rows from 1 to 26. If you don’t enter any value, Fill Series will not work. In this case, since we have 26 records, we can enter 26. In the ‘Series’ dialog box, select ‘Columns’ in the ‘Series in’ options.In the Editing Group, click on the Fill drop-down.Here are the steps to use Fill Series to number rows in Excel: While Fill Handle is a quick way to number rows in Excel, Fill Series gives you a lot more control over how the numbers are entered. It will fill the cells covered by the cursor dragging. You can, however, place the cursor on the fill handle, hold the right mouse key and drag down. In case you have a blank row in the dataset, fill handle would only work till the last contiguous non-blank row.Īlso, note that in case you don’t have data in the adjacent column, double-clicking the fill handle would not work. In this case, the pattern was that the numbers were getting incrementing by 1. Note that Fill Handle automatically identifies the pattern and fill the remaining cells with that pattern. Double-click on the fill handle square (while the cursor is in the plus icon form) and it will automatically fill all the cells until the end of the dataset.Hover the cursor over this square, and you will notice that the cursor changes to a plus icon.Note that there would be a small square at the bottom-right of the selection.

Here are the steps to quickly number the rows using the fill handle: Suppose you have a dataset as shown below:

1] Using Fill Handleįill handle identifies a pattern from a few filled cells and can easily be used to quickly fill the entire column. You can choose any one of the methods that work based on your dataset.

Or, you might have a dataset that has a few blank rows in it, and you only want to number the rows that are filled. The best way to number the rows in Excel would depend on the kind of data set that you have.įor example, you may have a continuous data set that starts from row 1, or a dataset that start from a different row.

Insert rows in excel