Is there a way to automatically numbers several rows in sequence

A few ways:

In the first two cells (say cells A2 and A3) type the first two numbers (1 and 2).

Select both cells

Hover over the blue line at the bottom of the selection box until you see a yellow dot

Drag down on that yellow dot to fill numbers into the rows below

Or

Put a 1 in the first cell (cell A2)

In the cell below (A3) type the formula =A2+1

Select that cell and drag down like described above.

Or, for very long lists of numbers,

Put a 1 in the first cell (A2)

In the cell below (A3) type the formula =A2+1

Select that cell and Copy (cmd C)

Select all the rest of the cells for which you want numbers and Paste (cmd V).

If you want to get rid of the formulas and just have the numbers: select all those cells with formulas, Copy, then go to the Edit menu and Paste Formula Results.

One advantage of the formulas is that they will automatically generate in new rows added to the bottom of the table. The hard coded numbers will not do that.

Several ways.

The following assumes your table has one header row, and that you want to begin numbering with "1" in cell A2.

Method 1:

Enter 1 in A2 to establish the beginning number.

Enter 2 in A3 to establish an increment of 1 per row.

Select both cells, then place the pointer near the bottom edge of cell A3.

The yellow dot that appears is the Fill control.

Place the pointer on the Fill control, press and hold the mouse button, and drag down as many rows as you need numbered.

Here, I've dragged down to row 203, then selected and hid rows 8 to 199 for a better fit into this space.

Numbers filled using this method are fixed values, and will stay the same until overwritten by the user.

Method 2:

Enter 1 in cell A2, then enter this formula in A3: A2+1

Select A3, and fill down as many rows as needed.

Numbers inserted using a formula are not 'Fixed'. If rows are deleted in the middle of the numbered rows, the formula,, in rows below the deletion, will adjust the numbers to fit the new location.

To convert these numbers to fixed values:

After filling the formula down the column, and will all cells containing the formula still selected:

Press command-C to Copy all selected cells, their formulas and the current calculation result (the listed number) of each, then…

Go to the Edit menu and choose Paste Formula Values to paste the calculated numbers, but not the formula creating them, into the same cells as they were copied from.

Method 3:

In cell A2, enter the formula ROW()-1.

Click the green checkmark to confirm the formula and close the formula editor.

With the cell still selected, press command-C to Copy the cell, it's formula and the currently calculated result.

Scroll to the last row to be numbered.

Press and hold the shift key, and click the last cell to be numbered. This action is known as 'shift-click'. It adds the clicked on cell and all cells between it and the originally selected cell (A2) to the selection.

With all cells from A2 to the current cell selected, press command-V to Paste the formula into those tows and calculate the result.

To convert these formula-generated values to Fixed values, see the instructions in Method 2.

Regards,

Barry

Looks like Badunit got started a little ahead of me. Definitely finished earlier. :-)

B.