Create Dozens of Lightning Bolts

December 14, 2023 - by Bill Jelen

Problem: I need to create multiple shapes. In the old Excel, I could double-click a shape icon and then draw multiple copies of the shape without going back to the menu. Now, I can’t seem to double-click the lightning bolt in the Shapes menu.

Strategy: Microsoft came up with a solution to this problem, although it is as subtle as the double-click trick in the old Excel.

It helps to draw one shape first, format it, and then right-click and select Set as Default Shape. This will ensure that the new shapes have the same color as this shape. Follow these steps:

• 1. Select Insert, Shapes dropdown.

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  2. Right-click any shape and choose Lock Drawing Mode. The mouse pointer changes to a thin plus sign.

• 3. To draw a default size shape, click the mouse pointer anywhere on the worksheet. To draw a shape of a different size, click and drag to draw the shape.

• 4. When you are done drawing shapes, press the Esc key or select another worksheet to exit Drawing mode.

The lighter drawings shown below are default drawings created with a single click in the upper corner of the shape. The darker drawings required a click and drag to size.

This article is an excerpt from Power Excel With MrExcel

Title photo by Raychel Sanner on Unsplash