How to Select Multiple Cells in Excel? 7 Simple Ways
(Note: This guide on how to select multiple cells in Excel is suitable for all Excel versions including Office 365)
When using Excel which consists of a multitude of data, there is a necessity to select multiple cells to perform certain functions. Selecting multiple cells makes it easy to copy, paste, add, move, and perform operations on specific data.
There are a variety of ways to select cells. In this article, I will tell you how to select multiple cells in Excel in 7 easy and efficient ways.
You’ll Learn:
- How to Select Multiple Cells in Excel?
- How to Select Multiple Rows or Columns in Excel?
- Select All the Cells in the Table or Sheet
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How to Select Multiple Cells in Excel?
By Dragging
Generally, multiple cells are selected by long pressing and dragging the mouse on the cells. This technique is widely used because it is convenient and easy to do. However, this method only selects adjacent cells.
- To select multiple cells, first, click on the cell.
- Then, left-click on the mouse and start dragging to select multiple cells.
Using the Shift Key
Dragging the cells by mouse sometimes might be inconvenient, since it can extend the screen while dragging. By using the Shift key, you can select multiple cells easily.
- To select multiple cells, first, select a cell.
- Then, press and hold the Shift key.
- Click on the cell up to which you want the selection to occur.
- You can see that, when you press the Shift key and select the cells, the entire cells between the active cell and the last clicked cell will be selected.
Select Non-Adjacent Cells Using the Ctrl Key
Selecting cells by dragging or using the Shift key only selects cells that are adjacent to each other. What if you want to select data that are not adjacent to each other?
In such cases, you can use the Ctrl key. This key helps to select or deselect the cells which are non-adjacent to each other.
Consider an example where you want to select the cells A2, C5, and E6:
- While holding the Ctrl key, select cell A2 from the Excel sheet.
- Then, hover cell C5 and select it while holding the Ctrl key.
- Finally, select cell E6. Remember to keep holding the Ctrl key so you won’t lose the selection.
Note: If you want to deselect a cell, then simply click on the cell again.
Using the Name Box
The interface of Excel only offers 28 rows and 23 columns to be visible. If you want to select outside of that, you will have to scroll and select the cells.
However, if you want to select any cells outside this view range, what can you do? You can use the Name Box to select multiple cells in Excel.
Name Box is a small tab that appears to the left of the formula bar. When you click on any cell in the worksheet, the cell’s location appears in the name box. This method also helps to specifically select cells from the worksheet.
- To select multiple cells using the Name Box, first, click on the name box. When you type a cell reference in the name box, it points to that cell.
- Enter the cell references you want to select. If you want to select multiple cells, make sure they are separated by commas.
- Press Enter.
- It automatically selects the cells you have entered in the Name Box.
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How to Select Multiple Rows or Columns in Excel?
You can use the above methods to select multiple cells in Excel which are adjacent or nonadjacent. But, there are other ways to select rows or columns as a whole.
Select Multiple Non-Adjacent Rows or Columns
Let us now see how to select non-adjacent rows using a simple method. In this method, you will have to use both the keyboard and mouse.
Consider an example, where you have to select rows 2, 4, and 6.
- To select the rows, first, place the mouse in row header 2 and left-click on that row.
- Then, place the mouse in row header 4 and left-click on that row while holding the Ctrl key on the keyboard to select the entire row.
- Finally, select row the data in row 6 by clicking on row header 6 while holding the Ctrl key.
Select Adjacent Rows or Columns
If you want to select data from whole rows or columns adjacent to each other, you can use the below-mentioned methods to select them.
Select Single Row or Column
- Bring the mouse to the row or column you want to select.
- In this case, let us select all the cells in Column C. To select the whole column, left-click on the column number.
- This will select all the data in the particular column.
Select Multiple Rows or Columns
If you want to select multiple rows and columns, you can either click and drag or use the Shift key to select them.
- First, click on the row header. This will serve as the starting row for your selection.
- By holding the Shift key, click on the row up to which you want the selection to occur. Or, you can click and drag on the row headers to select multiple rows.
Select All the Cells in the Table or Sheet
When you have to replicate or duplicate data from one worksheet to another, you will have to select all the elements in the whole worksheet.
- If you want to select all the elements in the table, first, select a cell in the table. This will act as the “active cell” which acts as a reference to select the cells around it. In this case, let us select cell C5 in the table.
- Press Ctrl + A. This will select all the elements in the table or the particular group of data.
Note: This method selects all the cells in that particular table or data group. If you want to select all the cells in a particular worksheet, you can use the shortcut key Ctrl + A + A. Or, you can click on the small inverted triangle in the top-right of the worksheet to select the whole worksheet.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fastest way to select multiple cells in Excel?
Selecting multiple cells with the shift key is the fastest and most effective way. Click the first cell in the range you want to select. Scroll the screen until you find the last cell in the range to select. Hold down with your shift key on the keyboard and then click that cell. All the cells in that range are selected.
How do you select cells in Excel without dragging?
To select a range of cells without dragging the mouse, select the range of cells by using the shift key. First, select the range of cells by left-clicking on the first cell and then selecting the last cell while holding down the shift key.
How to select multiple non-adjacent rows and columns?
Just press and hold the Ctrl key and then select non-adjacent cells or ranges with mouse clicking or dragging in the active worksheet.
Closing Thoughts
In this article, we saw how to select multiple cells in Excel in 7 simple ways. You can use either of the methods to select the adjacent cells or non-adjacent cells, rows, or even the whole worksheet. These methods can be time-saving and helpful in finishing any project more quickly.
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Simon Calder
Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA.He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!
