EXCEL
Inserting and Deleting Columns and Rows
Sometimes you realise that you have
left out a vital column or row in your spreadsheet.
It is not necessary to move all your existing data to make space for the
missing row or column, Excel can insert new rows and columns and renumber the
existing ones accordingly. Any
formulas are also updated to keep them accurate when you add or delete columns
or rows, more will be said about this later.
| To Insert a Row |
Click on the row heading where you want the new row to appear (i.e. if
your new row should be row 4 you would click on the number 4) and then click on
the Insert drop-down menu and choose Row. The current row 4 becomes row 5
and the rest of the data moves down the spreadsheet. |
| To
Delete a Row |
Click on the row heading for the row to be deleted and then click on the Edit
drop-down menu and select Delete. |
| To
Insert a Column |
Click
on the column heading where you want the new column to appear (i.e. if your new
column should be column D you would click on the letter D) and then click on the
Insert drop-down menu and choose Column. The current column D becomes column E and the rest of the data moves to
the right. |
| To
Delete a Column |
Click on
the column heading for the column to be deleted and then click on the Edit
drop-down menu and select Delete. |
| To Delete a Cell |
Take Care!
Deleting a cell will change the position of all other cells below or to the
right of the deleted cell. Delete Cell deletes the contents of the
cell and the cell itself. If you do not want to delete the entire cell,
choose Clear instead of delete. To delete a cell, click the cell to
be deleted, click on the Edit
drop-down menu and choose Delete. A dialog box will appear asking
how you want to shift the affected cells. The
example below shows a duplicate entry in one column.
By choosing ‘Shift cells up’ from the box that appears when we
choose Delete from the Edit drop-down menu we can remove the cell
with the extra entry and move the rest of that column up to take its place.
Likewise, the ‘Shift cells left’ option would move the rest of
the row to the left if there was an unwanted entry across the row and the other
had become displaced. |
| To
Insert a Cell |
Again, take
care! Inserting a cell will change the position of all other cells below
and to the right of the inserted cell. To insert a cell, click the
position where you need to insert a cell. Click
on the Insert drop-down menu and choose Cell.
Choose the direction you want the cells to move from the window that
appears below and the other cells will be shifted to the right or down to make
room for the new cell. |
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