How to AutoFill Dates in Google Sheets

AutoFill Dates in Google Sheets

AutoFill is a useful feature in Google Sheets that allows you to automatically fill a range of cells with a series of data, such as dates, numbers, or even text. To AutoFill dates in Google Sheets, follow these steps:

1. Open your Google Sheets document or create a new one.
2. Click on the cell where you want to start the sequence of dates.
3. Enter the first date in the series (e.g., 01/01/2021).
4. Click on the cell to select it, and you'll see a small blue square in the bottom-right corner of the cell. This is called the "fill handle."
5. Click and hold the fill handle, then drag it vertically or horizontally to fill the desired range of cells with dates.
6. As you drag, Google Sheets will show a preview of the dates you're about to fill. Release the mouse button to complete the AutoFill.

By default, Google Sheets will fill the dates with a daily increment. If you want to fill the dates with a different increment, follow these additional steps:

1. Enter the first two dates with the desired increment in the first two cells (e.g., 01/01/2021 and 01/08/2021 for a weekly increment).
2. Select both cells by clicking on the first cell, then holding the Shift key and clicking on the second cell.
3. Click and hold the fill handle, and then drag it over the desired range of cells.
4. Release the mouse button, and the cells will be filled with the dates in the specified increment.

Example

Let's say you want to create a list of dates with a weekly increment, starting from January 1, 2021.

1. Type "01/01/2021" in cell A1.
2. Type "01/08/2021" in cell A2.
3. Select cells A1 and A2 by clicking on A1, holding the Shift key, and clicking on A2.
4. Click and hold the fill handle in the bottom-right corner of cell A2.
5. Drag the fill handle down to cell A10 (or any desired number of cells).
6. Release the mouse button, and cells A1 to A10 will be filled with dates incremented by one week.