Can I use AutoFill or a formula to fill a series of letters?

[Guest]

I am looking to fill a series of increasing letters for example:

aaa
aab
aac
...
...
aaz
aba
abb

 

[zackb]

Hi there,

You can do this with some formulas. I'll assume you have this in A1 "aaa".
Enter this formula in A2 and copy down as needed ...

=IF(LEFT(A1,1)=122,CHAR(B1+1),CHAR(B1))&IF(MID(A1,2,1)=97,CHAR(C1+1),CHAR(C1))&IF(RIGHT(A1,1)=122,CHAR(97),CHAR(D1+1))

 

[zackb]

Sorry, formula is wrong. Gives skewed results.

With three blank columns to your data's right, in B11 enter 97 in each
cell. Then in A2 enter:

=CHAR(B2)&CHAR(C2)&CHAR(D2)

In B2 enter:

=IF(C2=122,B1+1,B1)

In C2 enter:

=IF(D2=97,C1+1,C1)

In D2 enter:

=IF(D1=122,97,D1+1)

Copy all down as needed. Hide columns B if desired. Sorry for any
confusion again.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your help, however the formula eventually starts to return symbols
as well as letters. I need to just see letters and also the ability to
choose the number of letters to start with is also important. (3 a's or 6
a's, etc...)