Fill down in Excel
Reports write the category only on its first row. Upload the file and download it with every row complete.
The report you cannot analyse
Almost every exported report looks like this:
| Region | Salesperson | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| North | Ana | 100 |
| Luis | 80 | |
| Eva | 60 | |
| South | Marta | 90 |
It reads beautifully and is useless. Filter by "North" and only one row shows up; build a pivot table and three out of four rows have no region at all.
Every row needs its own value, and that is what this tool does.
Blank rows separate blocks
A completely empty row nearly always marks the end of a section. That is why "stop at completely blank rows" is on by default: without it, one block's value would be carried into the next and mix two unrelated sections.
Upwards too
Less common, but it happens: some reports write the total or the label on the LAST row of the group. The direction option covers that case.
Frequently asked questions
Are all columns filled?
Only the ones you name. Leave it empty to fill them all, though usually only the category ones matter.
What if the first row is empty?
It stays empty: there is nothing above it to copy from. That is correct, because inventing a value would be worse.
Are data types preserved?
Yes. If the value being propagated is a date, it stays a date in the filled cells.
Is this the same as Ctrl+D in Excel?
The result is similar, but Ctrl+D fills the selection without distinguishing blocks. Here the separator rows are respected, which is exactly where Excel gets it wrong.