Excel Rows and Columns

The Grid: Rows and Columns

A worksheet is a grid made of columns, labeled with letters running A, B, C... up through XFD, and rows, labeled with numbers running from 1 up to 1,048,576. The box formed where one column and one row cross is a single cell.

Selecting Rows and Columns

• Click a column letter, such as B, to select the entire column
• Click a row number, such as 5, to select the entire row
• Hold Ctrl while clicking additional headers to select several non-adjacent rows or columns
• Click the small triangle in the top-left corner, where the row and column headers meet, to select the whole worksheet

Inserting and Deleting

1. Right-click a row number or column letter
2. Choose Insert to add a new, empty row above or column to the left
3. Choose Delete to remove the entire selected row or column, shifting the remaining cells to fill the gap

Resizing Rows and Columns

Drag the border between two column letters, or two row numbers, to resize by hand. Double-click that same border to auto-fit the column or row to the size of its longest content. For an exact size, right-click the header and choose Column Width or Row Height to type a precise number.

Hiding and Freezing

Right-click a row or column header and choose Hide to tuck it out of view without deleting its data; right-click the neighboring headers and choose Unhide to bring it back. Freezing is different: on the View tab, Freeze Panes keeps chosen rows or columns, such as a header row, visible on screen while you scroll through the rest of the sheet.