How to Fill Series in Google Sheets [Easiest Way in 2023]

In this article we will show how to fill a series in Google Sheets for numbers, letters, days and  months. Just follow the steps below:

‍

Fill a Series of Numbers in Google Sheets

Populating consecutive numbers in Google Sheets is a common task when creating lists, managing inventory, or categorizing values.

Manually inputting these numbers can be time-consuming, but with the automation capabilities of Google Sheets, this task can be easily accomplished without the need for manual input.

‍

1. In your first cell input your first number

‍

Here we will start off with a simple 1-10 count so in our first cell, A1, we will input the value one 1.

‍

2. In the cell below, write the next number in the sequence

‍

Since we are only doing a simple sequence, we input 2 as the next value in cell A2. 

‍

3. Select the two previous cells

A dark bow box should appear in the bottom right corner of your selection.

‍

4. Drag the Fill down box until you have the required number of rows.

‍

Here we will drag until row 10 to get 10 new rows. You should see your cursor turn into a + sign.

‍

5. Now you automatically have filled a series of numbers in Google Sheets

‍

Tip: Google Sheets automatically detects the pattern from your values so you can also fill in a series of numbers with different increments.

Say you want to put in additional increments of two, simply put 3 in the next cell since 1+2=3. This will automatically detect the pattern and add an increment of 2 in all of the succeeding cells.

‍

Fill a Series of Dates in Google Sheets

1. Input your first day in the first cell.

We will put the first date of the current year in cell A1.

‍

2. Select your cell 

A blue box should appear on the lower right side of your cell

‍

3. Drag the blue box until you reach your desired number of cells

‍

For our example, let us place the first 14 days of the month and drag from cell A1 to A14.

‍

Notice how the days are automatically filled in order. You can continue to drag the blue box to add more days in the sequence.

‍

Fill a Series of Months in Google Sheets

‍

Just like filling a series of dates, we will fill a series of months using the drag function of Google Sheets. Simply follow this guide to do so:

‍

1. In your first cell, type the first month you want to list

‍

Just for our example let us begin with August on cell A1. 

‍

2. Select the cell and drag the blue box on the lower right corner down.

‍

‍

3. Drag until you have the months you need.

You can notice that after December, Google Sheets will automatically go back to January. You can use this for personal calendars or goal tracking.

‍

Fill a Series of Letters in Google Sheets

Filling a series of letters will become a bit more complex than the other fill series but learning this will help you a lot when it comes to assigning letter codes or categorizing.

You can attempt simply filling the first two cells with A and B respectively but dragging these down will only repeat the selected letters and return a series of A’s and B’s.

The proper way to achieve a series of letters in Google Sheets will be by using a formula as shown below:

‍

1. In the first cell, type the first letter in your series.

Here we will be putting letter A on the first cell. 

‍

2. In the cell below, use the following formula: =CHAR(CODE(Previous Cell)+1)

‍

Here we will use =CHAR(CODE(A1)+1)to retrieve the next letter, B. A quick explanation of our formula is seen here:

‍

The CODE function turns your letter into an equivalent number. Using this number, we can now add 1 and then get a succeeding number. CHAR will turn the new number back into its equivalent letter, hence we get the next letter in the series. This is the pattern we want Google Sheets to pick up.

‍

3. Select the second cell and drag down until you get your preferred series of letters

‍

Dragging until row 10 will give us the letters A-J. Now you can use this method instead of manually typing the letters in your workbook.