Is there a formula to perform an operation on a group of cells at once?

**Rob1183** · 06-23-2015, 07:08 PM

I suspect this violates the fundamental "cellular" structure of Excel, but I'm looking for a way to highlight a whole field of numbers, and tell Excel to (say) divide everything in the highlighted area by a number and return the result in the same cell, as opposed to a different cell with the formula in it.

The normal way to do this (suppose for a unit conversion) would obviously be to create a column next to the column in question, insert a formula, copy the formula downwards, cut/paste special to leave values, then delete the original column. I'm looking for something faster though.

Thanks

**Pete_UK** · 06-23-2015, 07:16 PM

Suppose you have a list of numbers in column A, and want to increase them all by 20% (i.e. to multiply them all by 1.2). You can do this by first entering the value 1.2 in a blank cell somewhere (say D1), then selecting that cell again and clicking on <Copy>. Then you can move your cursor to select all the cells in column A that you want to change, right-click in the selected range and choose Paste Special from the drop-down, then click against Multiply in the Operation section and then click OK and press the <Esc> key.

Is that the kind of thing you are looking for?

Hope this helps.

Pete

**Rob1183** · 06-23-2015, 08:09 PM

Pete:

That's perfect! Your guru status is well-earned. That will save a LOT of work. Thanks so much.

**Pete_UK** · 06-23-2015, 08:24 PM

Glad to be able to help, and that you found it useful. You can see the other operations that can be carried on the Paste Special dialogue box.

If that takes care of your original question, please select Thread Tools from the menu above your first post and mark this thread as SOLVED.

Also, since you are relatively new to the forum (in terms of posts), you might like to know that you can directly thank those who have helped you by clicking on the small "star" icon located in the lower left corner of a post that you have found to be helpful (not just in this thread - for any post that has helped you). This also adds to the reputation of the poster (the small green bars in the poster's profile).

Pete