Some Excel worksheets have numerous rows such that working and sifting through them can be stressful. You may need to reorder your rows and columns now and then to make work easier for you. Therefore, any Excel user needs to learn how to move rows and columns.In our guide below, we explain the different methods you can use to shift rows in Excel. Here we go.
How to shift rows by inserting a new row in Excel
1. Open your spreadsheet
2. Click on the cell in the row that you wish to move down.
3. Open Home
4. Click on the Insert option under the cells group
5. Select Insert Sheet Rows.
Afterward, you will notice a row has been included and the existing ones have shifted down.
6. Repeat the steps above as needed.
Using the Context menu
1. In an open Excel worksheet, select the row you wish to move down.
2. Cut the selected row using the keyboard keys Ctrl + X.
3. Now choose where you wish to inject a row and right click
4. Choose the option Insert Cut Cells.
Shift rows in Excel Down by cutting and pasting
You can shift an entire row down in Excel by cutting and pasting it to the preferred location. It works when it comes to shifting rows up. The best thing about this method is that you can use it to shift multiple rows down.
1. Click the numbers on the left to select the rows you wish to shift down (Hold ctrl to select multiple rows)
2. Right click and press cut or use the shortcut ctrl + X
3. Move down to your preferred row and paste the rows
Download the practice workbook
Using the Sort feature to shift rows down
1. To do this, right-click on the column label and select Insert from the context menu.
2. Label your rows
3. Highlight all the data
4. On the main menu ribbon, navigate to sort and filter
5. In the drop-down menu, select Custom Sort to launch a dialog box.
6. Select Sort as illustrated by the image below
7. Next, select the option Smallest to Largest in the Order field.
8. Apply changes. You will notice some of your rows will have shifted up and others down.
9. Get rid of the helper column that you created
Using drag and drop method
It is the easiest and fastest way to use it when you want to move rows in Excel. You can either shift the rows by dragging and replacing, dragging and copying or dragging and moving. Here we discuss how to do all this.
Similar Article: How to move cells in Excel to the right (Easy Guide)
Dragging and Replacing Rows
1. Select the row or rows you want to move. You can select an entire row by clicking the specific row number, or you can click on any cell within the row and press the keys Shift + Spacebar.
2. Move the mouse to the bottom border like illustrated below.
3. Hold down the left mouse, click and drag it into the desired location.
4. Release your mouse. You will get a pop-up caution asking “There’s already data here. Do you want to replace it?” if you wish to move data to an empty row, Excel will not ask you this.
5. Click the OK button to replace the data.
How to shift multiple rows down
Sometimes you may want to shift rows down. The best way around this is to copy and paste. Select the rows you wish to shift down, then copy and paste them.
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