How to paste values only or transpose rows to columns
Paste Special in Grid by Zaweba pastes values only, formats only or formulas only, transposes rows into columns, and can add or multiply as it pastes.
Paste Special is the tool for both jobs. In Grid by Zaweba, copy the cells, choose Paste Special, and pick values to paste the results without the formulas behind them, or tick transpose to turn rows into columns and columns into rows. The same dialog offers every other paste kind too.
Why paste values only
A formula pasted somewhere new adjusts its references and keeps calculating. Often that's what you want. Sometimes it isn't. You might want to freeze this month's figures before next month's data changes them, send a sheet without exposing how the numbers were worked out, or replace a column of helper formulas with their final results so you can delete the helper columns.
Pasting values only writes the numbers and text you see, with no formulas. The result won't change when the source changes, which is exactly the point.
Pasting values step by step
Select the cells and copy them. Click where the result should go, which can be the same place if you're replacing formulas with their own results. Open Paste Special, choose values, and confirm. The cells now hold plain values.
Other choices in the same dialog paste only the formats, only the formulas, only notes, or only validation. Pasting formats alone is handy for applying a layout without touching data, though the format painter on the Home tab does that more quickly for a few cells.
Transposing rows and columns
Data sometimes arrives the wrong way round: months across the top when you need them down the side, or a list running across a row that should run down a column. Copy the range, click the top-left of an empty area, open Paste Special and tick transpose. Rows become columns.
Check there's enough empty space first. A range three rows tall and twelve columns wide becomes twelve rows tall and three columns wide.
If you'd like the turned-round copy to stay linked to the original, use the TRANSPOSE function instead. It spills the flipped data into place and updates whenever the source changes.
Arithmetic as you paste
Paste Special can also add, subtract, multiply or divide the copied value into the cells you paste on. Type 1.05 in a spare cell, copy it, select a column of prices and paste with multiply, and every price goes up by five percent in one step. It's a quick way to apply a change to plain values without a helper column.
Skip blanks is another option worth knowing. With it ticked, empty cells in the copied range don't overwrite what's already in the destination, which is useful for merging a partly filled column into a complete one.
Paste link pastes formulas that point back to the copied cells, so the destination always shows what the source holds.
Copying between programs
Grid's own clipboard carries formulas, formats, notes and validation when you copy within Grid. When you copy to or from another program, the data travels as tab-separated text, which most programs read cleanly. Pasting from a web page or another spreadsheet brings in the values, and you can then format them as you like.
Mistakes to watch for
Pasting values over formulas you still needed. Undo puts them back, since undo in Grid covers every change, but it's easier to keep a copy of the sheet before turning a whole column into values.
Transposing onto a range that overlaps the original. Paste the transposed copy somewhere clear, then delete the old one.
These are small commands, but they're the ones that tidy a workbook up for sharing. Grid by Zaweba keeps them all in one dialog.
