Flash Fill watches examples you type and completes the rest of a column by pattern. It is useful for splitting names, extracting parts of email addresses, reformatting phone numbers, or combining fields without writing formulas.
Does this affect you?
Use this for Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2021, Excel 2019, and Excel 2016 on Windows or Mac. Flash Fill is not available in Excel for the web.
Trigger Flash Fill with an example
Show Excel the pattern you want.
- Place the source data in a column with an empty column beside it.
- In the first empty cell, type the exact result you want for that row.
- Press Enter and start typing the second example.
- When Excel previews the remaining results in gray, press Enter to accept.
- If no preview appears, select the example cell and empty cells below, then use Data > Flash Fill or Ctrl+E.
If the pattern is not obvious, type two or three examples before running Flash Fill.
Combine columns with Flash Fill
Flash Fill also works in reverse.
- With first names in one column and last names in another, click in a blank output column.
- Type the first combined result, such as Smith, Jane.
- Start the second row.
- Accept the preview when it appears.
This works for names, addresses, IDs, phone numbers, and other consistent formatting patterns.
More control
Enable automatic Flash Fill on Windows
If previews never appear, go to File > Options > Advanced and make sure Automatically Flash Fill is checked. On Mac, run Flash Fill manually from Data > Flash Fill.
Fix inconsistent results
When rows contain different patterns, such as middle initials or different phone-number formats, correct a wrong result manually. Flash Fill may relearn the pattern from the correction.
Remember results are static
Flash Fill output does not update when source data changes. For data that changes regularly, use formulas such as LEFT, RIGHT, TEXTSPLIT, TEXTBEFORE, TEXTAFTER, or CONCAT.
Use Text to Columns for simple splits
For perfectly consistent separators such as commas or tabs, Data > Text to Columns is still reliable and works in situations where Flash Fill is unavailable.
Sources
- Microsoft Support – Flash Fill in Excel (2025)
- Microsoft Support – Video: Use Flash Fill (2025)
- Microsoft Support – Split text into different columns with Text to Columns (2025)