How To Add Columns or Rows In Excel

There are so many reasons why you will have to add columns or rows in your Excel work.

While I will list shortcuts to add columns or rows, I will also explain in detail how to add them manually.

Table of content

1. How To add columns or rows In Excel Manually
2. How To Delete Columns or Rows
3. Shortcut Key to Delete or Add Columns and Rows in Excel
4. Conclusion

How To add columns or rows In Excel Manually

There are three different ways to add columns in Excel and I am going to show you all.

To be able to add columns or rows, you must have some data in your sheet to work with so I generated some random data in the image below.

Method 1

Select the column you want the new one to come before. In my case, I want it between “Age (B)” and “Random1(C)” so I selected “Random1 (C)”.

Right-click and select “Insert“. The new column will fall between Age and Random1 shifting the rest to the right.

If it is a row you want to insert, select the row and perform the procedure just like the one above.

Method 2

• Select any cell in the column which you want your new one to come before.
• Right-click and select Insert
• Check the Entire column radio button and click OK. If you are inserting a row, select Entire row and click OK.

Method 3

• Select the column you want the new one to come before
• Make sure you are on the “Home” Ribbon tab
• Go to the Cells Ribbon group and click on Insert and It will insert a column
• You can also click on the dropdown arrow where you will have multiple option.

In case the column is grayed out, make sure you have selected a whole column in your sheet. If you want to insert a row, make sure you have selected a row.

How To Delete Columns or Rows

Deleting columns and rows in Excel is very easy because it is very similar to the process of adding.

Method 1

• Select the Column or Row you want to delete
• Right-click and select delete.

Method 2

• Select the row or column you want to delete
• Make sure you are on the “Home” Ribbon tab
• Go to the “Cells” Ribbon group
• Click on Delete
• You can also click on the dropdown arrow for multiple options

Shortcut Key to Delete or Add Columns and Rows in Excel

Shortcut keys make your work faster and there is one for adding a column or row in Excel too.

To add a column or row, select a column or row and press Ctrl and + keys in combination.

To delete, select a column or row and press Ctrl and – keys in combination.

Conclusion

In short, it is easy to add columns and rows in Excel, especially with the shortcut keys. But do not rely on shortcut keys so much that you forget the actual process. The process can do more than shortcut keys.

If you have any questions or suggestions, leave a comment below.