Forum Discussion

BudgieJane's avatar
BudgieJane
Copper Contributor
Jan 07, 2024

Do not paste into cells that already contain data

I want to copy a range of data somewhere else in my sheet, but I do not want the values to overwrite any data that may be in any of the target cells. This is effectively treating what I have copied t...
excel
office 365
tastyfish's avatar
tastyfish
Copper Contributor
Apr 21, 2025

Hi - I came across this whilst looking for a solution. I don't see how you can perform step 3 in your solution after selecting 'Values' in step 2. The dialog box is open and you have to paste. At what stage do you write the formula you provided?

NikolinoDE's avatar
NikolinoDE
Gold Contributor
Apr 24, 2025

In retrospect, I'm also a bit confused by the description of your project. Could you please explain it in more detail?

Step by step, what you're planning.

A file or photos might be helpful.

 

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

  • BudgieJane's avatar
    BudgieJane
    Copper Contributor
    Apr 24, 2025

    Some rows in my worksheet are partially filled with data. What I would like to do is complete one of those partially-filled rows of data by copying another row into the clipboard but only paste the copied values into the cells that do not contain any existing data, or which contain nulls.

    It is similar to this pseudo-code

    for cell in current row
   if value(cell) == null then
      value(cell) = clipboard(cell)
   endif
endfor

     

    • NikolinoDE's avatar
      NikolinoDE
      Gold Contributor
      Apr 24, 2025

      You want to paste a row of values into a partially-filled row, but only fill in the empty cells — without overwriting anything that's already there.

      This behavior is not something Excel does natively with normal copy/paste.

      Use a VBA Macro for me the best way to do.

      …since what you want isn't directly possible with just copy-paste functionality in Excel.

      Here’s a simple macro that does exactly what your pseudocode describes:

      Sub PasteOnlyIntoBlanks()
    Dim sourceRow As Range
    Dim targetRow As Range
    Dim c As Range
    Dim i As Integer

    ' Set the source and target rows
    Set sourceRow = Application.InputBox("Select source row", Type:=8)
    Set targetRow = Application.InputBox("Select target row", Type:=8)

    ' Loop through each cell in the row
    For i = 1 To sourceRow.Columns.Count
        If IsEmpty(targetRow.Cells(1, i)) Then
            targetRow.Cells(1, i).Value = sourceRow.Cells(1, i).Value
        End If
    Next i
End Sub

      How to use:

          Press Alt + F11 to open the VBA editor.

          Insert a new module.

          Paste the code above.

          Run the macro PasteOnlyIntoBlanks.

          When prompted, select the source row (the one you copied).

          Then select the target row (the partially-filled one).

      Done! It fills only the blank cells with data from the source row.

       

      If you an advance Excel User you can use Power Query.

      Power Query can be used to merge rows and fill missing data programmatically — but it's a bit more advanced.

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