How to add cells in an Excel spreadsheet

Inserting rows and columns in Excel is very convenient when formatting tables and sheets. But function of inserting cells and entire adjacent and non-adjacent ranges enhances program features to new level.

Consider the practical examples how to add (or remove) cells and their ranges in the spreadsheet in Excel. In fact the cells are not added as the value moves on other. This fact should be taken into account when the sheet is filled with more than 50%. Then the remaining amount of cells for rows or columns may not be enough and this operation will delete the data. In such cases you should divide content of one sheet into 2 or 3 sheets. This is one of the main reasons why the new Excel version has more numbers of columns and rows (65,000 lines in the older versions and 1 000 000 in new one).



Inserting a range of empty cells

How to insert a cell in an Excel spreadsheet? Let's say we have a table of values to which you want to insert two empty cells in between.

Table of values.

Perform the following procedure:

  1. Select the range in the place where you need to add new empty blocks. Go to the tab «HOME» - «Insert» - «Insert Cells». Or simply right click on the highlighted area and select the paste option. Or you may press the hotkey combination CTRL + SHIFT + «+».
    2. Insert Cells.
  2. A «Insert» dialog box appears where it is necessary to set the required parameters. In this case select «Shift down».
    3. Shift down.
  3. Click OK. After that in the table with values new cells will be added. And the old will retain values and move down giving its place.
Done.

In this situation you can simply press the tool «HOME» - «Insert» (without choosing other options). Then the new cells will be inserted and the old ones will shift down (by default) without calling the dialog box options.

Use hotkeys combination CTRL + SHIFT + «plus» to add cells in Excel after selecting them.

Note. Pay attention to the settings dialog box. The last two parameters allow us to insert rows and columns in the same manner.



Removing cells

Now let’s remove the same range from our table with values. Just select the desired range. Right-click on the selected range and choose «Delete». Or go to the tab «HOME» - «Delete», «Shift up». The result is inversely proportional to the previous result.

Right-click delete.

Select the range and use shortcut keys CTRL + «negative» if you want to remove cells in Excel.

Note. Likewise you can delete rows and columns.

Attention! In practice using tools «Insert» or «Delete» while inserting or deleting ranges without window with settings should be avoided so as not to get lost in the large and complex tables. Use the hotkeys if you want to save time. They cause a dialog box with removing the paste options and it also allows you to cope with the task much quickly.

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