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MS Excel VBA

MS Excel VBA
How to Select Entire Column (or Row) in Excel

How to Select Entire Column or Row in Excel Shortcut

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Like most things in Excel, there is more than one way to select a column or row in Excel.

Working with Excel means working with cells and ranges in the rows and columns.

And if you operate with large datasets, selecting entire rows and columns is quite a common task.

In this tutorial, I will guide you on selecting a column or row using a simple shortcut and some other easy methods.

 

Select Entire Column/Row Using Keyboard Shortcut

Suppose you have a dataset, as shown below, and you enjoy selecting an entire column (say column C).

 

 

Dataset where column needs to be selected

 

The foremost thing to do is select any cell in Column C.

Once you keep any cell in column C selected, use the below keyboard shortcut:

CONTROL + SPACE

Maintain the Control key, and then press the space-bar key on your keyboard

In subject you’re using Excel on Mac, use COMMAND + SPACE

The above shortcut would instantly select the entire column (as you will see, it gets highlighted in gray – indicating that it’s select)

Entire Column is selected

 

You can operate the same shortcut to select multiple contiguous columns as well. For example, suppose you desire to select

both columns C and D.

Select two adjacent cells (one in column C and one in Column D) and then use the same keyboard shortcut.

Selecting the Entire Row

If you want to select the entire row, select any cell in the row you want to be selected, and then use the below keyboard shortcut.

SHIFT + SPACE

Keep the Shift key and then press the Space-bar key.

You will furthermore see that it gets selected and highlighted in gray.

Selected entire column with shortcut

If you want to select multiple contiguous rows, select multiple adjacent cells in the same column and then use the keyboard shortcut.

Select Entire Column (or Multiple Columns) Using Mouse

I feel you may already know this method, but let me cover it anyway (it will be short).

Select One Column (or Row)

If you want to select an entire column (say column D), hover the cursor over the column headers (where it says D). You will detect that the cursor changes to a black downward-pointing arrow.

Cursor changes to a downward pointing arrow

Select Multiple Contiguous Columns (or Rows)

 

Imagine you want to select multiple columns that are next to each other (say columns D, E, and F)

Follow the below steps to do this:

  • Place the cursor on the left-most column header of column D
  • Press the left mouse key and keep it pressed
  • With the left key pressed, drag the mouse also to cover columns E and F

The above steps would automatically select all the columns chosen between the first and the last column.

Contiguous columns selected

Select Multiple Non-Contiguous Columns (or Rows)

The most common scenario is where you need to select multiple columns that are not next to each other (say columns D and F).

Below are the steps to do this:

  • Place the cursor at the column heading of one of the columns (say column D in this case)
  • Click the mouse left key to select the column
  • Press and hold the Control key
  • With the Control key pressed, choose all the other columns you want to select

Multiple Non-contiguous columns selected

Learn Complete Microsoft Excel Tutorial

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41 thoughts on “How to Select Entire Column or Row in Excel Shortcut”

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