Instead of simply pasting, paste as Values. In the desktop version of Excel for Windows, you can press Ctrl+Shift+V to do so.
How to preserve cell colours when pasting in data
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(265.6, 11%, 35%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3ESC%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Sue Catchpole
0
Reputation points
I have recently set up an Excel accounts spreadsheet, with coloured 'chequer-board' cells to make it easier to navigate. I am sent all the data which I then copy and paste into my sheet, but then lose all the colours. Is there some way of preserving them? At the moment I either have to type in the data one cell at a time, or alter the individual colours. Bother are very time consuming.
Microsoft 365 and Office | Other
Accepted answer
-
HansV 460.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator2025-08-11T09:13:29.4833333+00:00 -
Sue Catchpole 0 Reputation points
2025-08-11T09:27:19.6666667+00:00 Thanks for the suggestion, but each entry also includes a name, date, bank account number and transaction detail as well as the value.
-
HansV 460.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2025-08-11T09:56:12.5666667+00:00 Have you actually tried pasting the entire range as values?
-
Sue Catchpole 0 Reputation points
2025-08-12T09:21:28.62+00:00 I've just tried it and yes, it works. Many, many thanks!
-
HansV 460.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2025-08-12T09:29:52.8066667+00:00 Good to hear that!
-
Sue Catchpole 0 Reputation points
2025-08-12T09:47:15.9833333+00:00 Can I ask another question - I'm very new to Excel!
The number of rows in these accounts are getting longer and longer so I can no longer see the headings at the top without scrolling up and down. Is there a way to temporarily bring the headings down to the area where I'm working?
Sign in to comment -
1 additional answer
Sort by: Most helpful
-
HansV 460.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2025-08-12T10:13:10.4566667+00:00 You can "freeze" the top row or rows.
If the headers are in row 1:
- Activate the View tab of the ribbon.
- In the Window group, select Freeze Panes > Freeze Top Row.
If the headers are in row 2:
- Select the row below the header row, in this example row 3.
- Activate the View tab of the ribbon.
- In the Window group, select Freeze Panes > Freeze Panes.