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tsmorgan4's avatar
tsmorgan4
Occasional Reader
Feb 26, 2026

Excel Drag and Fill Handle not working as I would like

I am copying references from one workbook to another for organization. Both Workbooks are organized in tables. Earlier today I was able to filter table 2, by category in Column I, and paste the new R...
BI & Data Analysis
excel
Olufemi7's avatar
Olufemi7
Iron Contributor
Feb 26, 2026

Hellotsmorgan4​,

When working inside an Excel Table double-clicking the fill handle does not respect filters. It fills the entire column based on the contiguous data region and may restore a previous calculated column formula. If Column M previously contained a formula Excel treats it as a calculated column and can automatically reapply that formula.

To fill only the visible filtered rows filter your table as needed select the target cells in Column M press Alt + ; to select visible cells only paste the value and press Ctrl + Enter. If the column was previously formula-driven you can also disable File Options Advanced Fill formulas in tables to create calculated columns. This method prevents hidden rows from being overwritten and avoids formula reapplication.