Even if you are a careful planner, you will probably decide to change your Excel spreadsheet’s layout. Maybe you want data in another column in your spreadsheet (also known as a spreadsheet) or specific rows to turn out to be unnecessary. Excel makes inserting and deleting rows and columns easy.
How to Add Rows in Excel
When columns and rows containing data are deleted, the data is also deleted. These losses also affect formulas and charts that reference data in deleted rows and columns.
If you accidentally delete columns or rows that contain data, use the undo feature to get your data back.
Add rows using keyboard shortcuts
The keyboard key combinations used to add rows to the worksheet are:
Ctrl + Shift + " + " (plus sign)
Note: If you have a keyboard with a Keypad to the right of a regular keyboard, use the + there without the Shift key. The main combination is:
Ctrl + " + " (plus sign)
Before adding a row, tell Excel where you want to insert the new one by selecting its neighbors. This can also be done using the keyboard shortcut:
Shift + Spacebar
Excel inserts a new row above the selected row.
To add a row using keyboard shortcuts
- Select a cell in the row where you want to add the new row.
- Press and hold the Shift key on the keyboard
- Press the spacebar without releasing the Shift key.
- The entire row is highlighted.
- Press and hold the Ctrl and Shift keys on the keyboard.
- Press the “+” key without releasing the Ctrl and Shift keys.
- A new row is added above the selected row.
To add multiple adjacent rows using the keyboard shortcut
Tell Excel how many new adjacent columns you want to add to your spreadsheet by selecting the same number of existing columns.
Suppose you want to insert two new columns and select two existing columns to place the new column. If you wish to three new columns, select three existing columns.
To add three new rows to a worksheet
- Select a cell in the row where you want to add the new rows.
- Press and hold the Shift key.
- Press the spacebar without releasing the Shift key.
- The entire row is highlighted.
- Continue holding the Shift key.
- Press the Up arrow key twice to select two additional rows.
- Press and hold the Ctrl and Shift keys.
- Press the “+” key without releasing the Ctrl and Shift keys.
- Three new rows are added above the selected rows.
Add rows using the Context Menu
The option in the context menu (also known as the right-click menu) to add rows to the worksheet is Insert.
Like the keyboard method above, before adding a row, tell Excel where you want to insert the new one by selecting its neighbors.
The easiest way to add rows using the context menu is to select an entire row by selecting the row header.
To add a row to a spreadsheet
- Select the row header of a row where you want to add a new row. The entire row is highlighted.
- Right-click on the selected row to open the context menu.
- Select Insert from the menu.
- A new row is added above the selected row.
To add more adjacent rows
Tell Excel how many new rows you want to add to the spreadsheet by selecting the same number of existing rows.
To add three new rows to a worksheet
- In the row header, drag with the mouse pointer to highlight three rows to add a new row.
- Right-click on selected rows.
- Select Insert from the menu.
- Three new rows are added above the selected rows.
How to Delete Rows in Excel
The keyboard keys for deleting rows from the worksheet are:
Ctrl + " - " (minus sign)
The easiest way to delete a row is to select the entire row to delete. This can also be done using the keyboard shortcut:
Shift + Spacebar
To delete a single row using a shortcut
- Select a cell in the row to be deleted.
- Press and hold the Shift key.
- Press the spacebar without releasing the Shift key.
- The entire row is highlighted.
- Release the Shift key.
- Press and hold the Ctrl key.
- Press the ” – ” key without releasing the Ctrl key.
- The selected row will be deleted.
To delete adjacent rows using the shortcut
Again, numerous adjacent rows can be deleted at once if all of them are selected.
To delete three rows from Excel
- Select a cell in a row at the bottom end of the row group to be deleted.
- Press and hold the Shift key.
- Press the spacebar without releasing the Shift key.
- The entire row is highlighted.
- Continue holding the Shift key.
- Press the Up arrow key twice to select two additional rows.
- Release the Shift key.
- Press and hold the Ctrl key.
- Press the ” – ” key without releasing the Ctrl key.
- The three selected rows will be deleted.
Delete rows with the Context Menu
The menu (or right-clicking menu) used to delete rows from the worksheet is Delete.
The easiest way to delete rows with the context menu is to highlight the entire row by selecting the row headers.
To delete a single row in a spreadsheet
- Select the row header of the row to be deleted.
- Right-click on the selected row to open the context menu.
- Select Delete from the menu.
- The selected row will be deleted.
To delete multiple adjacent rows
Again, numerous adjacent rows can be deleted at once if all of them are selected.
To delete three rows from a worksheet
In the row header, drag with the mouse pointer to highlight three adjacent rows.
- Right-click on selected rows.
- Select Delete from the menu.
- The three selected rows will be deleted.
To delete individual rows
Separate or nonadjacent rows can be deleted at the same time by selecting them with the Ctrl key and the mouse.
To select separate rows
- Select row headers of the first row to be deleted.
- Press and hold the Ctrl key.
- Select additional rows in the row header to highlight them.
- Right-click on selected rows.
- Select Delete from the menu.
- The selected rows will be deleted.
Add columns in Excel
The keyboard keys combination to add columns to the worksheet is like adding rows:
Ctrl + Shift + " + " (plus sign)
Note: If you have a keyboard with a Keypad to the right of a regular keyboard, use the + there without the Shift key. The critical combination becomes Ctrl + +.
Before adding a column, tell Excel where you want to insert the new column by selecting its neighbors. This can also be done using the keyboard shortcut:
Ctrl + Spacebar
Excel inserts a new column to the left of the selected column.
To add a column using keyboard shortcuts
- Select a cell in the column where you want to add a new column.
- Press and hold the Ctrl key.
- Press the spacebar without releasing the Ctrl key.
- The entire column is highlighted.
- Press and hold the Ctrl and Shift keys.
- Press and release “+” without releasing the Ctrl and Shift keys.
- A new column is added to the left of the selected column.
To add multiple adjacent columns using the keyboard shortcut
Tell Excel how many new adjacent columns you want to add to your spreadsheet by selecting the same number of existing columns.
Suppose you want to insert two new columns and select two existing columns to place the new column. If you wish to three new columns, select three existing columns.
To add three new columns to a worksheet
- Select a cell in the column where you want to add new columns.
- Press and hold the Ctrl key.
- Press the spacebar without releasing the Ctrl key.
- The entire column is highlighted.
- Release Ctrl key.
- Press and hold the Shift key.
- Press the right arrow key twice to select two additional columns.
- Press and hold the Ctrl and Shift keys on the keyboard.
- Press “+” without releasing the Ctrl and Shift keys.
- Three new columns are added to the left of the selected columns.
The option in the context menu used to add columns to the worksheet is Insert.
Before adding a column, tell Excel where you want to insert the new column by selecting its neighbors.
The easiest way to add columns with the context menu is to highlight the entire column by selecting the column header.
To add a column to the spreadsheet
- Select the column header of a column where you want to add a new column. The entire column is highlighted.
- Right-click on the selected column to open the context menu.
- Select Insert from the menu.
- A new column is added to the left of the selected column.
To add multiple adjacent columns
Again, for rows, tell Excel how many new columns you want to add to the spreadsheet by selecting the same number of existing columns.
To add three new columns to a worksheet
- In the column header, drag with your mouse cursor to highlight three columns where you want new columns to be added.
- Right-click on selected columns.
- Select Insert from the menu.
- Three new columns are added to the left of the selected columns.
Delete columns in Excel
The keyboard combinations used to delete columns from the worksheet are:
Ctrl + " - " (minus sign)
It’s important to note that deleting a column is just that – while there is the option to hide columns, it’s an occasional way to get rid of your columns.
The easiest way to delete a column is to select the entire column to be deleted. This can also be done using the keyboard shortcut:
Ctrl + Spacebar
To delete a single column using keyboard shortcuts
- Select a cell in the column to be deleted.
- Press and hold the Ctrl key.
- Press the spacebar without releasing the Shift key.
- The entire column is highlighted.
- Continue holding the Ctrl key.
- Press and release the “–” key without releasing the Ctrl key.
- The selected column will be deleted.
To delete adjacent columns using the keyboard shortcut
Selecting adjacent columns in a worksheet allows you to delete all of them at once. The adjacent columns’ selection can be made with the arrow keys on the keyboard after the first column is selected.
To delete three columns from a worksheet
- Select a cell in a column at the bottom end of the group of columns to be deleted.
- Press and hold the Shift key.
- Press the spacebar without releasing the Shift key.
- The entire column is highlighted.
- Continue holding the Shift key.
- Press the up arrow keyboard twice to select two additional columns.
- Release Shift key.
- Press and hold the Ctrl key.
- Press and release the “–” key without releasing the Ctrl key.
- The three selected columns will be deleted.
The option in the context menu used to delete columns from the workbook is Delete.
The easiest way to delete columns with the context menu is to highlight the entire column by selecting the column header.
To delete a single column from the worksheet
- Select the column header of the column to be deleted.
- Right-click on the selected column to open the context menu.
- Choose Delete from the menu.
- The selected column will be deleted.
To delete multiple adjacent columns
Multiple adjacent columns can be deleted at once if all of them are selected.
To delete three columns from a worksheet
- In the column header, drag with the mouse pointer to highlight three adjacent columns.
- Right-click on selected columns.
- Choose Delete from the menu.
- The three selected columns will be deleted.
To delete individual columns
Separate or non-adjacent columns can be deleted at the same time by first selecting them with the Ctrl key and the mouse.
To select individual columns
- Select the column header of the first column to be deleted.
- Press and hold the Ctrl key.
- Select additional rows in the column header to highlight them.
- Right-click on selected columns.
- Choose Delete from the menu.
- The selected columns are deleted.