Auto increment a cell

Suppose if you want to increment a cell by 1 to see how your formulae handle that change, may be a simulation. That means that cell would be incremented by 1 everytime you hit F9 (keyboard short cut to make Excel recalculate). To achieve this do the following:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Calculation tab.
2. Select the Iteration check box.
3. Set the maximum number of times Microsoft Excel will recalculate, type one as the number of iterations in the Maximum iterations box

-MS Excel Help

Then enter this formula in the cell which you want to increment, suppose it’s A1.
Formula for A1: =A1+1.

That’s it! Now, every time you hit F9, that cell will be incremented by 1. If you want it increment by some other number, use that number in the formula.

About the Author

A co-author of Data Science for Fundraising, an award winning keynote speaker, Ashutosh R. Nandeshwar is one of the few analytics professionals in the higher education industry who has developed analytical solutions for all stages of the student life cycle (from recruitment to giving). He enjoys speaking about the power of data, as well as ranting about data professionals who chase after “interesting” things. He earned his PhD/MS from West Virginia University and his BEng from Nagpur University, all in industrial engineering. Currently, he is leading the data science, reporting, and prospect development efforts at the University of Southern California.

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