How to Delete a Cell in Excel (4 Easy Ways)

Get FREE Advanced Excel Exercises with Solutions!

If you are looking for some special tricks to know how to delete a cell in Excel, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll show 4 suitable methods to delete a cell in Excel. This article will discuss every step of the methods. Let’s follow the complete guide to learn all of this.

Sometimes you may require to remove an unwanted cell. We can easily do it by deleting a cell. In this article, we are going to explain several ways to delete Excel cell. To make it clearer, we are going to use a datasheet of sales information of some sales representatives which has 4 columns. This table represents sales information for different locations. The columns are Sales Rep, Location, Product, and Sales.

sample dataset to Delete a Cell in Excel

This section provides extensive details on these methods. You should learn and apply these to improve your thinking capability and Excel knowledge. We use the Microsoft Office 365 version here, but you can utilize any other version according to your preference.


1. Using Delete Cells Feature in Home Tab to Delete a Cell in Excel

Here we will utilize the delete cells feature option from the Home tab in Excel to demonstrate how to delete a cell in Excel. Let’s walk through the following steps to do the task.

📌 Steps:

  • First, to delete a cell using the ribbon, select the cell you want to delete.
  • Then open the Home tab >> go to Cells >> from Delete select Delete Cells.
  • Here, we select cell B10.

  • Now, there will pop up a dialog box where it will show 4 Delete options. From there we select Shift cells left.
  • Finally, click OK.

  • The Delete option Shift cells left will delete the selected B10 cell also it will shift the rest of the adjacent cells C10, D10, and E10 of the Location, Product, and Sales column to the left.

 Delete a Cell in Excel

  • Now, we will illustrate how to use the Shift Cells Up delete option to delete a cell.
  • To delete a cell using ribbon, first, select the cell you want to delete.
  • Then open the Home tab >> go to Cells >> from Delete select Delete Cells.
  • Here, we select cell B10.

  • Now, there will pop up a dialog box where it will show some Delete option.
  • From there we select Shift cells up. Finally, click OK.

select shift cells up option

  • Consequently, the Delete option Shift cells up will delete the selected B10 cell and shift the rest of the cells (B10:B15) of the Sales Rep upward.


2. Deleting a Cell Through Context Menu

Using Excel’s context menu, we will demonstrate how to delete a cell. Here are the steps to accomplish the task.

📌 Steps:

  • First, select the cell, right-click on the right side of the mouse, and then select Delete.
  • Here, we select cell C11.

use context menu to Delete a Cell in Excel

  • Now, it will pop up a dialog box where it will show 4 Delete options. From there we select Shift cells left.
  • Then finally, click OK.

select shift cells left

  • Consequently, the Delete option Shift cells left will delete the selected C11 cell also it will move the rest of the adjacent cells D11 and E11 of the Product and Sales column to the left.

Delete a Cell in Excel

  • Now, we will illustrate how to use the Shift Cells Up delete option to delete a cell.
  • First, select the cell, right-click on the right side of the mouse, and then select Delete.
  • Here, we select cell C11.

  • Now, it will pop up a dialog box where it will show 4 Delete options. From there we select Shift cells up.
  • Then finally, click OK.

  • Consequently, the Delete option Shift cells up will delete the selected C11 cell and shift the rest of the adjacent cells (C11:C15) of the Location column upward.

 Delete a Cell in Excel


3. Using Excel VBA for Deleting a Cell

In this section, using Excel’s VBA, we will demonstrate how to delete a cell. Here are the steps to accomplish the task.

📌 Steps:

  • VBA has its own separate window to work with.
  • You have to insert the code in this window too.
  • To open the VBA window, click the Developer tab on your ribbon. Then select Visual Basic from the Code group.

open VBA window

  • Now, a new window of Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications will appear.
  • Then, open Insert >> then select Module.

insert module

  • Now, write the code to Delete a cell in the module.
Sub Delete_Cells()
Range("b9").Delete
End Sub
  • Afterward, close the Visual Basic window. After that press Alt+F8.
  • When the Macro dialogue box opens, select the following macro in the Macro name. Click on Run.

  • Therefore, it will delete the selected cell. Also, it will shift the rest of the cells of the Sales Rep column upward.

 Delete a Cell in Excel


4. Removing Unwanted Cell in Excel

Now, we will demonstrate how to delete the unwanted cell. First, to delete an unwanted text from a column we can use Text to Columns and Delete Cells. Then, to separate the unwanted text from a row we will use Text to Columns. Follow the following steps to accomplish the task.

📌 Steps:

  • First, select the row you want to separate text.
  • Then, open the Data tab >> go to Data Tools >> then select Text to Columns.

Delete a unwanted Cell in Excel

  • Now, it will pop up a dialog box named Convert Text to Columns Wizard.
  • Here, select the Delimited file type then click Next.

  • Now, select the Delimiters Space then click Next.

select space

  • Now select the Destination where you want to place your converted text.
  • We made two new columns which are Sales Rep Name and Email ID.
  • As we want to place my converted text in these columns we have chosen the Destination of these columns.
  • As Destination is selected finally, click Finish.

click on Finish

  • Here you will see the converted text in the new columns.
  • As we want to keep the Sales Rep Name and Email ID columns text so we will remove the C11 and C12 cells.

  • Now, select the cell you want to delete.
  • Then open the Home tab >> go to Cells >> from Delete select Delete Cells.

select delete option to Delete a Cell in Excel

  • Now, it will pop up a dialog box where it will show 4 Delete options.
  • From there we select Shift cells left because we want to show these two columns as adjacent.
  • Finally, click OK.

  • Therefore, you will get the following output.

finally Delete a unwanted Cell in Excel

Read More: Swap Cells in Excel


How to Delete a Cell Range in Excel

Now, we will demonstrate how to delete the cell range in Excel. Follow the following steps to accomplish the task.

📌 Steps:

  • First, to delete a cell range, select the cell range you want to delete.
  • Then open the Home tab >> go to Cells >> from Delete select Delete Cells.
  • We select the range (B8:B12) cell.

select delete cells option to Delete a Cell in Excel

  • Now, it will pop up a dialog box where it will show 4 Delete options.
  • From there we select Shift cells left.
  • Finally, click OK.

  • Finally, the Delete option Shift cells left will delete the selected range (B8:B12) cell also it will shift the rest of the adjacent cells of range (B8:B12) to the left.

 Delete a range of Cell in Excel

  • In case you want to delete the cell range using Shift cells up follow the following steps.
  • Open the Home tab >> go to Cells >> from Delete select Delete Cells.
  • We select the range (B8:B12) cell.

  • Then select the Shift cells up option from the Delete. Then, click OK.

  • Therefore, the Delete option Shift cells up will delete the selected cell range (B8: B12) and shift the rest of the cells range (B8:B12) of Sales Rep upward.

finally Delete a range of Cell in Excel


Download Practice Workbook

Download this practice workbook to exercise while you are reading this article. It contains all the datasets in different spreadsheets for a clear understanding. Try it yourself while you go through the whole process.


Conclusion

That’s the end of today’s session. I strongly believe that from now on you may know how to delete a cell in Excel. If you have any queries or recommendations, please share them in the comments section below. Keep learning new methods and keep growing!


Related Articles


<< Go Back to Excel Cells | Learn Excel

What is ExcelDemy?

ExcelDemy - Learn Excel & Get Excel Solutions Center provides online Excel training , Excel consultancy services , free Excel tutorials, free support , and free Excel Templates for Excel professionals and businesses. Feel free to contact us with your Excel problems.

Tags:

Shamima Sultana
Shamima Sultana

Shamima Sultana, BSc, Computer Science and Engineering, East West University, Bangladesh, has been working with the ExcelDemy project for 2 years. She has written over 75+ articles and reviewed 1000+ articles for ExcelDemy. She has also led several teams with Excel VBA and Content Development works. Currently, she is working as the Project Manager and oversees the day-to-day work, leads the services team, allocates resources to the right area, etc. Her work and learning interests vary from Microsoft... Read Full Bio

We will be happy to hear your thoughts

Leave a reply

Advanced Excel Exercises with Solutions PDF

 

 

ExcelDemy
Logo