Introduction

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• Insert cells
• Delete cells

Inserting cells

When working in an Excel worksheet, you may need to insert or delete cells without inserting or deleting entire rows or columns.

To insert cells:

• Select the range where new cells should be inserted.
• Right-click and select Insert.
• The Insert dialog box opens and presents the following four choices:
  • Shift cells right: The cells in the same row are shifted right.
  • Shift cells down: Selected cells and all cells below them in the same column are shifted.
  • Entire row: This inserts an entire row of cells.
  • Entire column: This inserts an entire column.
• Choose an option, then click OK.
• Your result displays in the spreadsheet.

You can also use the Insert and Delete dialog boxes to insert and delete columns and rows.

Deleting cells

To delete cells:

• Select one or more cells.
• To delete cell contents but leave the cell in place, press Delete.

OR

• Right-click and choose Delete.
• The Delete dialog box opens and presents the following choices:
  • Shift cells left: Cells in the same row are shifted right.
  • Shift cells up: Selected cells and all cells below them in the same column are shifted.
  • Entire row: This deletes an entire row of cells.
  • Entire column: This deletes an entire column.
• Choose an option, then click OK.
• Your result displays in your spreadsheet.

Challenge!

Practice inserting and deleting cells using the Insert and Delete dialog boxes.