How to add the same number to multiple cells in Excel 

While working in Microsoft Excel, we often need to add numbers. Addition is one of the fundamental arithmetic operations, and Excel provides a convenient way to add numbers together. Whether you’re working with financial data, sales figures, or any other numerical data, you can use addition to perform calculations and obtain totals, subtotals, or cumulative sums. The addition is commonly used to summarize and aggregate data. 

In today’s tutorial, we’ll learn to add the same number to multiple cells in Excel. There are many different ways to add a number to multiple cells. In this tutorial, two simple methods to add a number to multiple cells are described. One way is to add a number by copying and pasting it to the cells using the “Paste Special” option. Another way is to use the formula for addition.  

Method 1 – Copying and pasting 

We can add a number to multiple cells by copying the number and pasting it to the cells using the “Paste Special” option. If we tickmark the “add” option, then the result of the sum of that number and cell values will be displayed. Consider the following dataset that contains the salaries of five employees. To calculate the net salary of each employee, we have to add a bonus, that is 5000 for each employee, to their gross salaries.  

Step 1 – Copy the gross salaries of employees and paste into the Net salary column 

• Select the Gross salaries of employees. 

• Right-click on it. 
• Click on “Copy”, or simply press Ctrl+C on the keyboard. 
• Paste them in the “Net salary” column by pressing Ctrl+V on the keyboard. 

Step 2 – Add the bonus in the Net salary column by using Paste Special options 

• Click on the bonus (5000). 
• Press Ctrl+C to copy it. 
• Select the “Net salary” column and right-click. 

• Click on “Paste Special”. 
• Tickmark the “Add” option under the “Operation” heading. 
• Click OK. 
• The bonus (5000) will be added to the salary. 

Method 2 – Using the addition formula 

We can also add the same number to multiple cells using the addition formula. We’ll first add the number to one cell using simple addition formula, and then we’ll use the Fill handle to apply the formula to multiple cells. For example, a shopkeeper wants to increase the price of its products by Rs.500 due to an increase in the retail price of the products. He can add Rs.500 to one product and then use the Fill handle to add Rs.500 to all products. Consider the following dataset: 

Step 1 – Write the formula for addition 

• Create an appropriate formula for adding the cell that has the bonus value, to the old price. 
• In this case, the used formula is =C3+$D$9 
• Write the formula in the “New Price” column. 

• Press Enter. 

Step 2 – Use the Fill handle to apply the formula to multiple cells 

• Move your cursor to the bottom right corner of the cell in which the formula has already been applied. 
• When the cursor changes to a “+” sign, press and drag it down to the last product. 
• The number will be added to all the selected cells