In this Microsoft Excel tutorial, learn how to create and delete rows and columns. Also learn how to change the size of rows and columns in Excel.
Step1 Exploring Excel To learn how to use Microsoft Excel, you must first become familiar with the Excel spreadsheet window. Click on the image for a quick overview of an Excel spreadsheet. You'll be able to see where the Formula Bar is, the toolbars, what a column is, what a row is, etc
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Step2
Selecting a Range How to Use Excel - Selecting a Range of Cells: A “range” is a selected block of cells. To select a range of cells in Excel, just click and drag your mouse pointer across the cells. The selected cells will be highlighted. The name for the range of cells is the first cell and the last cell in the selection.Step3
Selecting Columns and Rows How to Use Excel - Selecting Rows and Columns: To select a row in Excel, click on the row heading (numbers that run vertically down the left side of the Excel spreadsheet). To select a column in Excel, click on the column heading (letters that run horizontally across the top of the Excel spreadsheet). To select multiple rows or columns in Excel, just click a column heading and drag to the left or right, or click on a row heading and drag up or down.Step4
NonContiguous Selection How to Use Excel - Selecting Non-Contiguous Cells, Rows, Columns: You can select cells, columns, or rows in Microsoft Excel that are not right next to each other by first selecting one, then pressing the CTRL key on your keyboard while selecting more.Step5
Selecting Entire Worksheet How to Use Excel - Selecting the Worksheet: To select the entire Microsoft Excel worksheet, click on the heading box located to the left of Column A and above Row 1.Step6
Inserting Rows How to Use Excel - Inserting Rows: When you insert a new row in Excel, the new row(s) get inserted above the selected row(s). First, select the row(s) UNDER where you want your new row(s) to go. Then right-click and choose INSERT.
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Inserting Columns How to Use Excel - Inserting Columns: When you insert a new column in Excel, the new column(s) will get inserted to the left of the selected column(s). To insert columns, first select the column(s) to the RIGHT of where you want the new column(s) to be inserted. Then right-click and choose INSERT.Step8
Deleting Rows How to Use Excel - Deleting Rows: When you delete a row in Excel, all the rows underneath the deleted row(s) will move up. To delete a row, select the row(s) to be deleted, then right-click and choose DELETE.Step9
Deleting Columns How to Use Excel - Deleting Columns: When you delete a column in Excel, all columns to the right of the deleted column(s) will shift to the left. To delete a column, select the column(s) to be deleted, then right-click and choose DELETE.Step10
Drag to Fit How to Use Excel - Changing Row and Column Size: To change the size of a row or column in Excel, place your mouse pointer on the border between the numbered or lettered headings. The pointer will change to a double arrow. Then click and drag the border to the desired size.
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How to Use Excel - Changing Row and Column Size Using AutoFit: Excel also has an AutoFit feature that you can use to automatically re-size a column or row. Just double-click on the right column border or bottom row border and it will automatically re-size to fit the cell that contains the most characters.Step12
How to Use Excel - Changing Row and Column Size Using Menu: To set a column or row to a specific size, select the column or row, right-click and choose COLUMN WIDTH or ROW HEIGHT. Enter the size in the dialog box that pops up.Step13
For more MicroSoft Excel help, see the Tips and Resources section below.- When clicking on the row heading (1, 2, 3) or column heading (A, B, C), you are selecting the ENTIRE row or column all the way to the end of the spreadsheet.
- If you just want to delete the contents of a cell without actually deleting the row or column, simply select the cells, rows or columns, and press the DELETE key on your keyboard.
- If a cell displays pound signs (####), this means that the column is too small to contain the values. Make the column width wider to fix this.
- If you need to insert more than one row or column, you can do this quickly by selecting the number of rows or columns that you need to insert (even if they are filled in), then right-click and choose INSERT.
