Changing values without using formulas



Q I maintain several price lists in an Excel worksheet. Occasionally, I need to increase a group of prices by a fixed percentage. For example, I recently needed to increase the prices for a product line by 5 per cent. I created formulas that did the calculations, and then I used the Edit--Paste Special command to replace the original values with the calculated results. Afterward, I deleted the formulas.
Is there a less cumbersome way to achieve the same result?
- Tina Reynolds

A You bet there is, and the solution also involves the Edit--Paste Special command.
Let's say you have a list of values in the range A2:A100 that you want to increase by 5 per cent. Follow these steps:
1. Enter 1.05 into any blank cell and select Edit--Copy.
2. Select the range you want to modify -- in this case, A2:A100.
3. Choose Edit--Paste Special.
4. In the Paste Special dialogue box, select the Multiply option and click OK.
5. Delete the value you entered in Step 1; it's no longer needed.


The Paste Special dialogue box lets you update a value without a formula


This operation multiplies the values in the selected range by 1.05, which is equivalent to increasing the values by 5 percent.
- John Walkenbach

Category: Spreadsheet
Issue: Mar 1998
Pages: 162

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