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Excel Row and Column Shortcuts

You are here: Home / Excel / Excel Row and Column Shortcuts
Row/Column Shortcuts
April 20, 2017 by Mynda Treacy

Inserting, copying, moving, or cutting and pasting rows and columns is something we do every day in Excel. And there are loads of ways we can perform these repetitive tasks.

Inserting Rows, Columns and Cells

We can use the icons in the Insert menu on the Home tab:

use the icons in the Insert menu

Or even the keyboard shortcut:

Ctrl+Shift+= (or simply Ctrl++ using the + on the number keypad)

If you have a column selected then Ctrl+Shift+= will insert a column to the left, if you have a row selected Ctrl+Shift+= will insert a row above, or if you have a cell(s) selected Ctrl+Shift+= will open the Insert dialog box so you can choose where to insert the cells:

Excel Row and Column Shortcuts

Tips:

  • Use keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+Space to select a whole column

Ctrl+Space

Or Shift+ Space to select a whole row:

Shift+Space

  • Hold Shift and use your arrow keys to select multiple rows/columns to insert more than one at a time.

We can also use our mouse to insert a row;

  1. Select the row(s)
  2. Hold down the Shift key
  3. Hover your mouse over the fill handle until the mouse displays the double line/arrow symbol below
  4. Left click and drag down to insert a row (drag up to delete a row)

drag down to insert row

Tip: This works the same for columns and cells.

Thanks to fellow Excel MVP, Bob Umlas for teaching me that trick. I learnt it in his book; This isn’t Excel it’s Magic.

Deleting Rows, Columns and Cells

Similarly, we can use the Delete Cells icons on the Home tab:

delete cells

Or the keyboard shortcut:

Ctrl+-

If you have a cell(s) selected, Ctrl+- will open the Delete dialog box so you can choose how and what you want to delete:

delete dialog box

Tip: Select the row(s) or column(s) before clicking Ctrl+- to skip opening the dialog box and delete the entire row(s) or column(s).

Copying and Moving Rows, Columns and Cells

We can easily move rows, columns and cells with our mouse by left clicking and dragging the edge of the cell to a new location.

Hold down Shift while dragging to insert the row, column or cell. Your mouse pointer will change to an arrow and the insert point will be displayed by a thick green line:

hold down shift

Tip: To copy and insert a row, hold down Ctrl + Shift while left clicking and dragging. Your mouse cursor will show a small + symbol beside the arrow:

copy and insert

Share a Shortcut

What’s your favourite Excel shortcut? Share it in the comments below.

Row/Column Shortcuts

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Peter

    April 28, 2017 at 7:22 am

    F2 – being only a reasonable typist, I often have to go back over what has been typed. I used to jump to the entry line, but since finding F2, even my typing has got better, so I actually use it less. Who knew!

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      April 28, 2017 at 8:24 am

      🙂 practice makes perfect. I like F2, too.

      Reply
  2. Jeff Tibballs

    April 27, 2017 at 12:07 am

    When typing in a cell Alt + Enter creates a new line without having to wrap text.

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      April 27, 2017 at 8:08 am

      Thanks, Jeff. That’s one of my favourites too 🙂

      Reply
  3. Muhammad

    April 23, 2017 at 9:05 am

    CTRL Z is my favorite shortcut

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      April 23, 2017 at 1:08 pm

      +1 for Ctrl Z 🙂

      Reply
  4. Bruce Jones

    April 23, 2017 at 12:42 am

    Some mouse shortcuts I’ve learned about:
    Right click on the boundary of the selected area and right drag to a new location brings up a context menu specifically for copy/move commands

    Right click and right drag on the fill button in the lower right corner brings up a fill-specific context menu.

    Double clicking on a selection edge will move the selection, in the direction of the clicked edge, to the end of the used range, same as END+Arrow. (I discovered that one from sloppy mousing.)

    Using Control+Enter when entering data or a formula will populate every selected cell. Especially useful when the formulas use relative references as each cell in the selection will change the references appropriately.

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      April 23, 2017 at 1:08 pm

      Great tips. Thanks for sharing, Bruce.

      Reply
  5. Pieter Stolk

    April 22, 2017 at 1:22 am

    In addition to the shortcuts already mentioned (by the way CTRL + ‘D’ is really handy, also for copying down a complete row of formulas):

    CTRL + ‘.’ will activate another corner in your active array. This is handy if, for example, you want to check wether pasted data fits the way you would like to. Also you can quickly check if there is other data present besides the data you pasted.

    CTRL + ‘1’ is a fast way to format data as numbers.

    Reply
    • Pieter Stolk

      April 22, 2017 at 1:28 am

      Sorry, I meant CTRL + SHIFT + ‘1’ is a fast way to format data as numbers (not CTRL + ‘1’)

      Reply
      • Mynda Treacy

        April 22, 2017 at 11:37 am

        Ah, I see. It’s actually Ctrl + Shift + ! so as not to get confused with the 1 on the number keypad.

        Reply
  6. Alex B

    April 21, 2017 at 12:17 pm

    To convert data to a table
    – Ctrl + T (English Language version – won’t work in all countries)
    – Ctrl + L (The International version – Tables were lists and in VBA are still list objects)

    To create a new workbook
    – Ctrl + N

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      April 21, 2017 at 4:34 pm

      Cheers, Alex. I use Ctrl+T and Ctrl+N all the time, too. I didn’t know about the international version of Ctrl+T though.

      Reply
  7. ILYAS QASIM

    April 21, 2017 at 4:57 am

    CTRL + 1 on any cell to format, it will bring up format cell Dialogue Box for me!!

    Awesome!

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      April 21, 2017 at 7:53 am

      I use that one all the time too. Thanks for sharing, Ilyas.

      Reply
      • Ilyas Qasim

        April 21, 2017 at 8:51 pm

        Your welcome Mynda,

        We all get huge keyboard shortcuts because of post you posted!

        Reply
  8. B.Frassek

    April 21, 2017 at 1:00 am

    CTRL+y repeats last action if possible

    Also very useful with other MS products, such as WORD, PowerPoint.

    But I guess everyone already knows it …

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      April 21, 2017 at 7:55 am

      I use F4 for that, but Ctrl+Y would be good on keyboards that make you press the FN key to activate the function keys. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
  9. Kat

    April 21, 2017 at 12:00 am

    I’m shocked that you would completely leave out the right click of the mouse giving a shortcut for inserting and deleting rows and columns. Since most of us have our hands on the mouse – its the fastest way to operate instead of looking for an item in the ribbons.

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      April 21, 2017 at 9:33 am

      Shock and awe is kind of my style 😉 How funny. I rarely use the right mouse key for that. Thanks for reminding me.

      Reply
  10. Laszlo

    April 20, 2017 at 11:24 pm

    My new favourite column shortcut: Ctrl + 0 = hide column
    Ctrl + Shift + 0 = unhide column

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      April 21, 2017 at 9:33 am

      Nice. Thanks, Laszlo.

      Reply
  11. Stephen

    April 20, 2017 at 11:00 pm

    Another, more obscure one, which I often fall back on is the key sequence Alt Down arrow.

    When used in a cell under a block of data, this will display a list of unique entries from the column above that can then be selected. I bit like a ‘dynamic’ data validation list. The data doesn’t have to be filtered, or even in a table.

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      April 21, 2017 at 9:37 am

      Yes, I occasionally use that too. Great tip.

      Reply
  12. Stephen

    April 20, 2017 at 10:55 pm

    +1 for Lesley’s tip – Ctrl ; to enter today’s date. Something I also use daily. I’ve even taken to including this as a comment in the heading of relevant columns on my worksheets to help communicate this to other users.

    I also can’t count how many others I’ve shown the Shift drag trick above for moving rows.

    Another one I find handy is Ctrl Shift * to select the current region of data.

    But the most useful I find is the End key followed by the Down arrow to move to the end of a data block in a column (and the corresponding Up, Left, Right, arrow keys to move around data blocks). This is great for quickly identifying any empty cells within a data block. When used in conjunction with the Shift key, it helps in quickly selecting a range e.g. for formatting, deleting, etc.

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      April 21, 2017 at 9:37 am

      Hi Stephen,

      Thanks for your tips. The End key is old school, from Lotus 1-2-3 days. I still use that too but many modern Excel users use Ctrl and arrow keys instead of end.

      Mynda

      Reply
  13. Derek Jones

    April 20, 2017 at 10:46 pm

    CTRL+* on a cell with data within a table of data selects that table area (quicker than doing CTRL+SHIFT+DOWN then CTR+SHIFT+ACROSS)

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      April 20, 2017 at 10:53 pm

      Nice, Derek. I’ll be using that. Thanks 🙂

      Reply
  14. Greg

    April 20, 2017 at 10:14 pm

    Not specific for Excel but use it with Excel a lot.

    Windows key +right arrow key: Docks half screen to right half of monitor
    Windows key +left arrow key: Docks half screen to left half of monitor

    With two monitors, you can have four docked screens great for copying and monitoring email.

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      April 20, 2017 at 10:56 pm

      Never knew that one, Greg. Thanks.

      Reply
    • Bruce Jones

      April 23, 2017 at 12:32 am

      A few more Windows keys:
      Win+Up maximizes the active window
      Win+Down restores a maximized window or minimizes a restored window
      What I use often:
      Win+number opens the app pinned to the taskbar or activates that app if it’s running
      Win+Shift+Left (or Right) moves the active window to the other screen.

      Reply
  15. Bill

    April 20, 2017 at 9:56 pm

    Control & “; – copies the contents of the cell above.

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      April 20, 2017 at 10:55 pm

      That’s a new one, Bill. I’ve always used Ctrl+D to copy the cell above. Ctrl+” copies the value without the formatting, whereas Ctrl+D copies the formatting too.

      Reply
      • Liesie

        April 21, 2017 at 11:46 pm

        Selecting all the cells below a section of a row you want to copy, and then using Ctrl+D, copies the contents of all the cells above. Ctrl+’ copies only the first cell.

        Reply
        • Mynda Treacy

          April 22, 2017 at 11:38 am

          Thanks for sharing Liesie.

          Reply
  16. Lesley

    April 20, 2017 at 8:39 pm

    Control & ; – puts the date in a cell – I use this everyday!

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      April 20, 2017 at 9:52 pm

      Great tip, Lesley. Thanks.

      Reply

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