Using the normal method to enter sequential numbers in merged cells (enter "1" in the first cell and drag down) will cause an error. What should you do?
Fill Down requires each target cell to be the same size. Here A2:A5 is one merged cell and A6:A9 is another, so the sizes differ and an error occurs.
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- Select A2:A10
- Enter the formula:
=MAX(A$1:A1)+1
- Press Ctrl+Enter
- Ctrl+Enter: Fill the selected cell range with the current entry.
=MAX(A$1:A1)+1
- First find the MAX of A1:A1. Since A1 is text, the result is 0. Add 1 to get 1.
- Because you pressed Ctrl+Enter, Excel calculates the MAX of A1:A2 — comparing "No." and "1" yields 1; add 1 equals 1.
- Repeat and you'll get the sequential serial numbers.
- MAX: Returns the largest value in a set of numbers.
- Microsoft's official explanation of MAX
