Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Select multiple cells in Excel 2010

Selecting multiple cells means selecting cells that span more than one cell. This may involve selecting part of data in a row or column sequentially, selecting part of data that spans multiple rows and columns, selecting the entire row or column, selecting the entire worksheet, and selecting non-sequential cells. Continue reading to know how to select multiple cells. Refer to the diagram for information related to selecting multiple cells.
1. Selecting part of data in a row or column sequentially - To select multiple cells in a row, click the first cell. Hold the Shift key and then click the last cell in the same row. You may also perform the same by clicking the first cell and holding the Shift key and pressing the right-arrow key to select the cells towards right. Clicking the first cell, holding the Shift key and pressing the left-arrow key will select the cells towards left. (Example: Click cell B1, press the Shift key. Finally click cell E2).
To select multiple cells in the column, click the first cell, hold the Shift key and click the last cell in the column (or) click the first cell, hold the Shift key and press the Up or Down arrow to select cells in a single column.
2. Selecting part of data that spans multiple rows and columns – This selection is similar to selecting part of data in a row or column sequentially except that the last cell selection will be spanning more than a row or column (Example: Click Cell B1, press the Shift key and click cell D4. You may also try clicking B2, pressing the Shift key and clicking C4).
3. Selecting the entire row or column – To select an entire row, click the row number (Example: 2 or 3 or 4 or 5). To select an entire column, click the column heading (Example: B or C or D or E or F).
4. Selecting the entire worksheet – To select the entire worksheet, press Ctrl + A (Or) press the grey box that is to the left of the Column heading A and is at the top of row number 1.
5. Selecting non-sequential cells – To select non-sequential cells, click the first cell. Press and hold the Ctrl key. Now click the cells that you need to select (Example: Click B3, press and hold the Ctrl key. Now, click cell D2, cell F4, cell A3, and cell B2).
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