When you move or copy rows and columns, by default Excel moves or copies all data that they contain, including formulas and their resulting values, comments, cell formats, and hidden cells.
When you copy cells that contain a formula, the relative cell references are not adjusted. Therefore, the contents of cells and of any cells that point to them might display the #REF! error value. If that happens, you can adjust the references manually. For more information, see Detect errors in formulas.
You can use the Cut command or Copy command to move or copy selected cells, rows, and columns, but you can also move or copy them by using the mouse.
By default, Excel displays the Paste Options button. If you need to redisplay it, go to Advanced in Excel Options. For more information, see Advanced options.
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Select the cell, row, or column that you want to move or copy.
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Do one of the following:
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To move rows or columns, on the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Cut
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To copy rows or columns, on the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy
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Right-click a row or column below or to the right of where you want to move or copy your selection, and then do one of the following:
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When you are moving rows or columns, click Insert Cut Cells.
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When you are copying rows or columns, click Insert Copied Cells.
: To move or copy a selection to a different worksheet or workbook, click another worksheet tab or switch to another workbook, and then select the upper-left cell of the paste area.
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: Excel displays an animated moving border around cells that were cut or copied. To cancel a moving border, press Esc.
By default, drag-and-drop editing is turned on so that you can use the mouse to move and copy cells.
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Select the row or column that you want to move or copy.
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Do one of the following:
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Cut and replace Point to the border of the selection. When the pointer becomes a move pointer
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Copy and replace Hold down CTRL while you point to the border of the selection. When the pointer becomes a copy pointer
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Cut and insert Hold down SHIFT while you point to the border of the selection. When the pointer becomes a move pointer
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Copy and insert Hold down SHIFT and CTRL while you point to the border of the selection. When the pointer becomes a move pointer
: Make sure that you hold down CTRL or SHIFT during the drag-and-drop operation. If you release CTRL or SHIFT before you release the mouse button, you will move the rows or columns instead of copying them.
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: You cannot move or copy nonadjacent rows and columns by using the mouse.
If some cells, rows, or columns on the worksheet are not displayed, you have the option of copying all cells or only the visible cells. For example, you can choose to copy only the displayed summary data on an outlined worksheet.
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Select the row or column that you want to move or copy.
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On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Find & Select, and then click Go To Special.
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Under Select, click Visible cells only, and then click OK.
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On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy
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Select the upper-left cell of the paste area.
: To move or copy a selection to a different worksheet or workbook, click another worksheet tab or switch to another workbook, and then select the upper-left cell of the paste area.
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On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Paste
Excel pastes the copied data into consecutive rows or columns. If the paste area contains hidden rows or columns, you might have to unhide the paste area to see all of the copied cells.
When you copy or paste hidden or filtered data to another application or another instance of Excel, only visible cells are copied.
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Select the row or column that you want to move or copy.
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On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy
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Select the upper-left cell of the paste area.
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On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the arrow below Paste
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Select the Skip blanks check box.
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Double-click the cell that contains the data that you want to move or copy. You can also edit and select cell data in the formula bar.
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Select the row or column that you want to move or copy.
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On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, do one of the following:
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To move the selection, click Cut
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To copy the selection, click Copy
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In the cell, click where you want to paste the characters, or double-click another cell to move or copy the data.
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On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Paste
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Press ENTER.
: When you double-click a cell or press F2 to edit the active cell, the arrow keys work only within that cell. To use the arrow keys to move to another cell, first press Enter to complete your editing changes to the active cell.
When you paste copied data, you can do any of the following:
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Paste only the cell formatting, such as font color or fill color (and not the contents of the cells).
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Convert any formulas in the cell to the calculated values without overwriting the existing formatting.
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Paste only the formulas (and not the calculated values).
Procedure
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Select the row or column that you want to move or copy.
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On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy
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Select the upper-left cell of the paste area or the cell where you want to paste the value, cell format, or formula.
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On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the arrow below Paste
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To paste values only, click Values.
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To paste cell formats only, click Formatting.
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To paste formulas only, click Formulas.
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When you paste copied data, the pasted data uses the column width settings of the target cells. To correct the column widths so that they match the source cells, follow these steps.
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Select the row or column that you want to move or copy.
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On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, do one of the following:
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To move cells, click Cut
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To copy cells, click Copy
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Select the upper-left cell of the paste area.
: To move or copy a selection to a different worksheet or workbook, click another worksheet tab or switch to another workbook, and then select the upper-left cell of the paste area.
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On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the arrow under Paste
You can use the Cut command or Copy command to move or copy selected cells, rows, and columns, but you can also move or copy them by using the mouse.
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Select the cell, row, or column that you want to move or copy.
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Do one of the following:
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To move rows or columns, on the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Cut
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To copy rows or columns, on the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy
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Right-click a row or column below or to the right of where you want to move or copy your selection, and then do one of the following:
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When you are moving rows or columns, click Insert Cut Cells.
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When you are copying rows or columns, click Insert Copied Cells.
: To move or copy a selection to a different worksheet or workbook, click another worksheet tab or switch to another workbook, and then select the upper-left cell of the paste area.
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: Excel displays an animated moving border around cells that were cut or copied. To cancel a moving border, press Esc.
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Select the row or column that you want to move or copy.
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Do one of the following:
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Cut and insert Point to the border of the selection. When the pointer becomes a hand pointer
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Cut and replace Hold down SHIFT while you point to the border of the selection. When the pointer becomes a move pointer
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Copy and insert Hold down CTRL while you point to the border of the selection. When the pointer becomes a move pointer
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Copy and replace Hold down SHIFT and CTRL while you point to the border of the selection. When the pointer becomes a move pointer
: Make sure that you hold down CTRL or SHIFT during the drag-and-drop operation. If you release CTRL or SHIFT before you release the mouse button, you will move the rows or columns instead of copying them.
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: You cannot move or copy nonadjacent rows and columns by using the mouse.
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Double-click the cell that contains the data that you want to move or copy. You can also edit and select cell data in the formula bar.
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Select the row or column that you want to move or copy.
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On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, do one of the following:
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To move the selection, click Cut
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To copy the selection, click Copy
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In the cell, click where you want to paste the characters, or double-click another cell to move or copy the data.
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On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Paste
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Press ENTER.
: When you double-click a cell or press F2 to edit the active cell, the arrow keys work only within that cell. To use the arrow keys to move to another cell, first press Enter to complete your editing changes to the active cell.
When you paste copied data, you can do any of the following:
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Paste only the cell formatting, such as font color or fill color (and not the contents of the cells).
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Convert any formulas in the cell to the calculated values without overwriting the existing formatting.
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Paste only the formulas (and not the calculated values).
Procedure
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Select the row or column that you want to move or copy.
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On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy
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Select the upper-left cell of the paste area or the cell where you want to paste the value, cell format, or formula.
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On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the arrow below Paste
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To paste values only, click Paste Values.
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To paste cell formats only, click Paste Formatting.
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To paste formulas only, click Paste Formulas.
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You can move or copy selected cells, rows, and columns by using the mouse and Transpose.
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Select the cells or range of cells that you want to move or copy.
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Point to the border of the cell or range that you selected.
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When the pointer becomes a
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To |
Do this |
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Move cells |
Drag the cells to another location. |
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Copy cells |
Hold down OPTION and drag the cells to another location. |
: When you drag or paste cells to a new location, if there is pre-existing data in that location, Excel will overwrite the original data.
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Select the rows or columns that you want to move or copy.
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Point to the border of the cell or range that you selected.
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When the pointer becomes a
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To |
Do this |
|---|---|
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Move rows or columns |
Drag the rows or columns to another location. |
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Copy rows or columns |
Hold down OPTION and drag the rows or columns to another location. |
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Move or copy data between existing rows or columns |
Hold down SHIFT and drag your row or column between existing rows or columns. Excel makes space for the new row or column. |
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Copy the rows or columns that you want to transpose.
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Select the destination cell (the first cell of the row or column into which you want to paste your data) for the rows or columns that you are transposing.
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On the Home tab, under Edit, click the arrow next to Paste, and then click Transpose.
: Columns and rows cannot overlap. For example, if you select values in Column C, and try to paste them into a row that overlaps Column C, Excel displays an error message. The destination area of a pasted column or row must be outside the original values.
