The Insert Row Option is Grayed out – 9 Solutions

The following picture highlights the problem and the solution.

Solution 1 – Press Windows+R and Change the Microsoft Excel AppData

You can fix the grayed-out Insert Row option by changing the AppData.

• Close all open Excel files.
• Press Win + R.
• Enter %appdata%\Microsoft\Excel  in Open.
• Click OK.

• Change the .xlb file extension to .old

The Insert Row option is working.

Read More: Cannot Insert Row in Excel

Solution 2 – Unprotect the Worksheet

• Select Review >> Unprotect Sheet to unprotect the worksheet.

Solution 3 – Unprotect the Workbook

• Select Review >> Protect Workbook to unprotect the workbook.
• Enter the password.

Solution 4. Unselect Columns to Re-enable the Insert Row Option

• Unselect the columns.
• Unselect the rows to insert or delete columns.

Solution 5. Enable a Grayed out Insert Row Option by Exiting Cell Editing

• Press Esc to exit cell editing and try to use the insert row command.

Solution 6. Change the Display Options

• Press ALT+F+T to open Excel Options.
• Go to Advanced.
• In Display options for this workbook, select the worksheet.
• In For Objects,show, choose All.
• Click Ok.

Read More: Excel Shortcuts to Insert New Row

Solution 7 – Fix the Disabled Insert Row Option in a Shared Workbook

Select Review >> Share Workbook. Uncheck Allow changes by more than one user at the same time and click OK.

Solution 8 – Remove Unnecessary Add-Ins

Go to File >> Options >> Add-Ins. Remove the Add-Ins one by one to see. Add them again.

Solution 9 – Fix Grayed out Insert Row Option with an Excel VBA

• Ppress ALT+F11 to open the VBA window.
• Select Insert >> Module.

Copy the following code.

Public Sub Reset_Menu()
CommandBars("column").Reset
CommandBars("row").Reset
CommandBars("Cell").Reset
End Sub

Paste the code into the module. Press F5 to run the code.

Things to Remember

• You can try deleting the following registry from the registry editor to reset the commands >> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office|16.0\Excel\Options.
• Sometimes restarting your PC or updating your Office automatically fixes the bugs.

Download Practice Workbook

Download the practice workbook here.

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