Excel 2010: How to Add and Delete Rows and Columns

Adding or removing rows and columns in an Excel workbook is quite an easy process. For those of you who are not familiar with the process, this tutorial shows you how to add and delete rows and columns. There are more than one ways to do this. While I prefer to use the keyboard shortcut, you can adopt one that suits your working style.

How to Add and Delete Rows and Columns

You can add or delete rows and columns in one of the following ways.

How to Add a Single Row to a Spreadsheet

When you add a row to a spreadsheet, the rows and columns below and to the right of the insertion point are moved one level down and one level to the right. So when you’re adding a row or column, make sure you place the insertion point at the right location.

1. If you want to add a row after a certain row, click the row header that is below the specific row. For example, if you want to add a row below row header 4, right-click row header 5.

2. From the short-cut menu, click Insert.

OR

Select the row header below the row you want to add and press Ctrl +

How to Add Multiple Rows to a Spreadsheet

1. Click the row headers and drag to select the number of rows you want to add.

2. Right-click the selected rows and from the short-cut menu, click Insert.

OR

Select the number of rows you want to add by clicking and dragging the header rows and then press Ctrl +

How to Add a Single Column to a Spreadsheet

This works much the same as adding a row header.

1. If you want to add a column after a certain column, click the column header that is to the right of the specific column. For example, if you want to add a column to the right of column header 4, right-click column header 5.

2. From the short-cut menu, click Insert.

OR

Select the column header below the column you want to add and press Ctrl +

How to Add Multiple Columns to a Spreadsheet

1. Click the column headers and drag to select the number of columns you want to add.

2. Right-click the selected columns and from the short-cut menu, click Insert.

OR

Select the number of columns you want to add by clicking and dragging the column headers and then press Ctrl +

How to Delete Rows and Columns

Deleting rows and columns involves right-clicking the unwanted row or column headers and choosing Delete. You can also select the unwanted row/column header and press Ctrl –