XL2000: AutoFill of Date Causes Incorrect Date Entry After 32,766 Cells

When you type a date into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet cell and then use the AutoFill command to increment dates into other cells in the spreadsheet, the date data is incorrect after 32,766 cells are filled.

This behavior occurs because AutoFill does not work correctly when you increment more than 32,766 dates.

To work around this issue, follow these steps:

1. Select the last cell that has a correct date.
2. Autofill from the cell that you just selected.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until you have filled all of the cells that you want.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

To automatically fill an Excel spreadsheet with incremented dates, use one of the following methods:

Method 1: Drag the Date

1. Start Excel.
2. Type a date in cell A1, for example, 1/1/2001.
3. Select cell A1.
4. Grab the fill handle and drag the date to the last cell in the range that you want to fill.
   
   The dates automatically increment and the cells are automatically formatted as Date.

Method 2: AutoFill Command

1. Start Excel.
2. Type a date in cell A1, for example, 1/1/2001.
3. On the Edit menu, click Goto.
4. In the Reference box, type the range that you want to fill, for example, A1:A10, and then click OK.
5. On the Edit menu, point to Fill, and then click Series.
6. Under Type, click AutoFill, and then click OK.
   
   The dates automatically increment and the cells are automatically formatted as Date.NOTE: The behavior described in the "Symptoms" section occurs after cell 32,766.