Copy cell data and paste attributes only

There are two ways to paste specific cell contents or attributes like a formula, format, or comment copied from another cell. You can either pick a specific paste option directly from the Paste menu or click Paste Special, and pick an option from the Paste Special box.

1. Select the cell with the attribute you want to copy and press Ctrl+C.

   Tip:  To copy a selection to a different worksheet or workbook, click another worksheet tab or switch to another workbook.

2. Click the upper-left cell of the paste area and use either the Paste options or the Paste Special options.

Paste menu options

Click Home > Paste and pick the specific paste option you want. For example, to paste only formatting from the copied cell, click Formatting . This table shows the options available in the Paste menu:

icon	Option name	Paste result
	Paste	All cell contents.
	Keep Source Column Widths	Copied cell content along with its column width.
	Transpose	Reorients the content of copied cells when pasting. Data in rows is pasted into columns and vice versa.
	Values & Source Formatting	Values and formatting from copied cells.
	Paste Link	Reference to the source cells instead of the copied cell contents.
	Picture	Copied image.
	Linked Picture	Copied image with a link to the original cells (if you make any changes to the original cells those changes are reflected in the pasted image).

Paste Special options

To use options from the Paste Special box, click Home > Paste > Paste Special.

Keyboard Shortcut: Press Ctrl+Alt+V.

In the Paste Special box, pick the attribute you want to paste.

Note:  Depending on the type of data you copied and the Paste option you picked, some other options might be grayed out.

Option name	Paste result
All	All cell contents and formatting.
Comments	Only comments attached to the cell.
Validation	Only the data validation settings from the copied cells.
Column widths	Only column widths.

Common Paste and Paste Special options

You can use some of the paste special options from either the Paste menu or the Paste Special box. The option names might vary a bit but they results are the same:

Icon and option name in Paste menu and Paste Special box	Paste results
Formatting Formats in Paste Special.	Only the formatting from copied cells.
Values	Values (visible results of formulas and not the formulas).
Formulas	Only the formulas from copied cells.
Formulas & Number Formatting Formulas and number formats in Paste Special.	Only formulas and number formats (not text formats) from copied cells.
Values & Number Formatting Values and number formats in Paste Special.	Only the values (not formulas) and number formats from copied cells.
No Borders All except borders in Paste Special.	All copied cell contents except borders.
Keep Source Formatting All using Source theme in Paste Special.	Cell content with the formatting from copied cells.

For more about copying an entire worksheet to another location in the same workbook or to a different workbook, see Move or copy worksheets or worksheet data.