How to fill blank cells with dash in Excel?
Supposing you have a range of data which contains some blank cells, and now, you want to fill each of these blank cells with the dash symbol as following screenshots shown, do you have any good ideas to fill the blank cells with dashes at once in Excel?
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Compare methods for filling blank cells with dashes
Fill blank cells with dashes by using Go To Special
Fill blank cells with dashes by using Find and Replace function
Fill blank cells with dashes by using VBA code
Fill blank cells with dashes by using Kutools for Excel
Compare methods for filling blank cells with dashes
All four methods can fill blank cells with a dash, but they differ in setup and flexibility. Go To Special and Find and Replace are useful built-in Excel options, VBA provides programmable automation, while Kutools for Excel offers a dedicated Fill Blank Cells tool for directly applying a fixed value to the selected blanks.
| Method | Best for | Workflow | Key consideration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Go To Special | Occasionally filling true blanks with dashes | Select Blanks, type a dash, then press Ctrl + Enter | Built into Excel, but requires selecting the blank cells first |
| Find and Replace | Quickly replacing blank cells with one fixed character | Leave Find what empty, enter a dash in Replace with, then click Replace All | Simple built-in method for one fixed replacement value |
| VBA | Repeated or customized automation | Insert and run a macro that fills blank cells with "-" | Flexible, but requires VBA code and macro permissions |
| Kutools for Excel | Quickly filling blanks with dashes or other specific values | Select the range, choose Fill Blank Cells > Fixed value, enter "-", and apply | The same tool also supports value-based and linear filling when your needs change |
Fill blank cells with dashes by using Go To Special
If you are familiar with the Go To Special feature of Excel, you can select all blank cells first, and then fill them with dashes at once. Please do as follows:
1. Select the range that you need to fill the blanks with dashes.
2. Then click Home > Find & Select > Go To Special, in the Go To Special dialog box, check Blanks option, see screenshots:
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3. Then click OK, and all blank cells have been selected as following screenshot shown:
4. Enter the dash - into the active cell and press Ctrl + Enter together. All selected blank cells are filled with dashes at once, see screenshot:
Fill blank cells with dash or any other specific values
Kutools for Excel’s Fill Blank Cells feature provides a dedicated way to fill blank cells with a dash, another fixed value, neighboring values, or linear values without switching between different Excel methods. Click to download Kutools for Excel!
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Fill blank cells with dashes by using Find and Replace function
In Excel, the Find and Replace function can also quickly replace blank cells with dashes.
1. Select the data range that you want to use, and press Ctrl + H keys to open the Find and Replace dialog box, see screenshot:
2. In the Find and Replace dialog, leave the Find what box empty, and enter a dash in the Replace with box, see screenshot:
3. Click Replace All to replace the blank cells with dashes. A dialog box will show how many cells have been replaced. See screenshot:
4. Click OK and close the Find and Replace dialog.
Fill blank cells with dashes by using VBA code
The following VBA code can also help you fill blank cells with dashes.
1. Hold down the ALT + F11 keys to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.
2. Click Insert > Module, and paste the following code in the Module window.
VBA code: Fill blank cells with dashes
Sub ChangeBlank()
'Update by Extendoffice
Dim Rng As Range
Dim WorkRng As Range
On Error Resume Next
xTitleId = "KutoolsforExcel"
Set WorkRng = Application.Selection
Set WorkRng = Application.InputBox("Range", xTitleId, WorkRng.Address, Type:=8)
For Each Rng In WorkRng
If Rng.Value = "" Then
Rng.Value = "-"
End If
Rng.HorizontalAlignment = xlCenter
Next
End Sub
3. Press the F5 key to run this code, and a prompt box will pop up for you to select the data range you want to use, see screenshot:
4. Click OK, and all blank cells are filled with dashes immediately.
Fill blank cells with dashes by using Kutools for Excel
If you want to fill blanks without first selecting them through Go To Special or writing VBA code, Kutools for Excel's Fill Blank Cells provides a more direct solution. For this task, simply choose Fixed value and enter a dash. The same utility can also fill blanks based on neighboring values or with linear values when needed.
After downloading and installing Kutools for Excel, please do as follows:
1. Select the range that you want to fill the blanks with dashes.
2. Click Kutools > Insert > Fill Blank Cells, see screenshot:
3. In the Fill Blank Cells dialog, select Fixed value under the Fill with section, and enter the dash (-) into the Filled value text box, see screenshot:
4. Click OK or Apply, and all blank cells in the selection are filled with dashes.
To know more details about this Fill Blank Cells feature.
With this Fill Blank Cells tool, you can also do the following tasks:
How to fill blank cells with 0 or other specific value in Excel?
How to fill blank cells with value above in Excel?
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