Cell pointer corner symbol??

[neil f]

I notice that the tiny box in the bottom right corner of the active cell
pointer is sometimes a square and sometimes a cross. It seems to depend
which cell the pointer is on, but I can't work out the connection and none
of the manuals I have mention it at all. Anyone know what its significance
is?

Cheers,
-Neil F.

 

[Chip Pearson]

Neil,

That square box is called the "fill handle" and allows you to
fill a range of cells with a series of number. For example, enter
1 and 2 in cells A1 and A2 respectively. Then, drag the fill
handle down to A10. You'll see that the cells are filled with
sequential numbers.


--
Cordially,
Chip Pearson
Microsoft MVP - Excel
Pearson Software Consulting, LLC
www.cpearson.com

 

[Gord Dibben]

Neil

The little black box at bottom right corner is the "fill handle".

If you want to drag/copy a cell or group of cells across or down, hover the
mouse pointer over this box. The pointer will become an black cross. At this
point, click and drag to copy.

If you have Tools>Options>Edit "Allow drag and drop" unchecked, you won't see
the black box.

Gord Dibben Excel MVP

 

[neil f]

I notice that the tiny box in the bottom right corner of the active cell
pointer is sometimes a square and sometimes a cross. It seems to depend
which cell the pointer is on, but I can't work out the connection and none
of the manuals I have mention it at all. Anyone know what its significance
is?

Cheers,
-Neil F.

Stranger and stranger. I now find I only get the above effect in one Excel
sheet, and that was originally imported from a different spreadsheet program
which exported files in Excel 4 format. Is this some sort of long-forgotten
early Excel artifact that appears only when legacy formats are converted?
I'd still like to know what these undocumented icons mean though.

BTW, I'm talking about the tiny icon in the corner of the cell pointer which
is normally a blacked-out square, and specifically when the mouse pointer is
nowhere near the cell in question. So I now have three variants: a
blacked-out square, a square with a small white diamond inside it, and a
diagonal black cross. Hmmm.

-Neil.