Quickly create and insert unique sequential numbers in Excel
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Normally it is easy to insert sequence numbers in contiguous cells of Excel by dragging mouse, after you enter two numbers, such as 1 and 2. However, if you want to insert customized sequential numbers in Excel, such as KTE-0001-Jone, KTE-0002-Jone, KTE-0003-Jone..., the sequence strings will not be filled normally when dragging the mouse. Now, with the Insert Sequence Number utility of Kutools for Excel, you can create any customizing sequence numbers and insert them quickly. With this handy utility, you can:
Quickly create and insert unique sequential numbers in a range of cells
Quickly create and insert repeated sequential numbers in a range of cells
Quickly create and insert sequential numbers in merged cells
Click Kutools >> Insert >> Insert Sequence Numberto enable the feature. See screenshots:
Quickly create and insert unique sequential numbers in a range of cells
If you want to quickly create and fill a range of cell with customized sequential numbers in Excel, you can get it done as follows:
1. Select the range that you want to insert sequential numbers, and applying this utility by clicking Kutools > Insert > Insert Sequence Number to open the Insert Sequence Number dialog box.
2. In the Insert Sequence Number dialog box, specify the fill order first. Choose to Fill vertically cell after cell or Fill horizontally cell after cell from the Fill order drop-down list.
3. Still in the Insert Sequence Number dialog box, please click 
New button to create your own sequential numbers.
4. In the popping-up Create Sequence Number dialog, under the Sequence number section, specify the Name, Start number, Increment, No. of digits one by one accordingly. The End number, Prefix, and Suffix options are optional. Then you can preview the result of your customized sequence in the right list box, see screenshot:
5. After finishing your settings, click OK button. The newly created sequence numbers item is added into the Sequence number list.
6. In the Insert Sequence Number dialog box, select the item that you created from the Sequence number list, then click the OK button to insert the sequence numbers into the selected range. The result is shown as the below screenshot.
Tip: Click Ok button will close the dialog box and apply the operation; but click Apply button will only apply the operation without closing the dialog box.
Quickly create and insert repeated sequential numbers in a range of cells
Sometimes, you may need to repeat the sequential numbers, such as AA-001, AA-002, AA-003, AA-001, AA-002, AA-003…in a range of cells, the Insert Sequence Number utility also can deal with this job.
1. Select the cells that you want to insert the repeated sequence.
2. Then apply this feature by clicking Kutools > Insert > Insert Sequence Number to open the Insert Sequence Number dialog box.
3. In the Insert Sequence Number dialog box, specify the fill order first. Choose to Fill vertically cell after cell or Fill horizontally cell after cell from the Fill order drop-down list.
4. Still in the Insert Sequence Number dialog box, please click New button to create your own sequential numbers.
5. In the popping-up Create Sequence Number dialog, under the Sequence number section, specify the Name, Start number, End number, Increment, No. of digits, and Prefix one by one accordingly. Then you can preview the result of your customized sequence in the right list box, see screenshot:
6. After finishing your settings, click OK button. The newly created sequence numbers item is added into the Sequence number list.
7. In the Insert Sequence Number dialog box, select the item that you created from the Sequence number list, then click the OK button to insert the sequence numbers into the selected range. The result is shown as the below screenshot.
Quickly create and insert sequential numbers in merged cells
As we all known, when we want to use the fill handle to fill the sequence numbers into merged cells, the fill handle will not take effect, but, if you have Kutools for Excel, its powerful tool - Insert Sequence Number can solve this task quickly and easily.
1. Select the merged cells that you want to fill the sequence numbers.
2. Then go to the Insert Sequence Number dialog box, after specifying the fill order from the Fill order drop-down list, click New button to create your own sequential numbers.
3. In the popping-up Create Sequence Number dialog, under the Sequence number section, specify the Name, Start number, Increment, and No. of digits one by one accordingly. Then you can preview the result of your customized sequence in the right list box, see screenshot:
4. After finishing your settings, click Ok button. The newly created sequence numbers item is added into the Sequence number list.
5. In the Insert Sequence Number dialog box, select the item that you created from the Sequence number list, then click the Ok button to insert the sequence numbers into the selected range. The result is shown as the below screenshot.
- In the Insert Sequence Number dialog box, it will mark the last inserted sequential numbers in the Previous list, and if you insert this sequence number at next time, the first sequential number will be started from the sequential number in the Next list. See screenshot:
- You can click New button to create more sequential numbers.
- This utility supports Undo (Ctrl+Z).
Demo: Quickly create and insert unique sequential numbers in Excel
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Kutools for Excel
Kutools for Excel offers 300+ advanced features to streamline your work in Excel 2010 – 2024 and Microsoft 365. The feature above is just one of many time-saving tools included.
