Excel Cells Basics - A Beginner's Guide

A cell is the smallest unit of an Excel worksheet. Each cell has a unique address. Cell address is a combination of a column letter and a row number.

Excel cell

⏷ Selecting Cells
⏷ Insert and Delete Cells
⏷ Resize Excel Cells
⏷ Editing Cell
⏷ Refer to a Cell in Formula
⏷ Copy, Cut, and Paste Cells
⏷ Select, Copy, and Paste Visible Cells Only
⏷ Lock or Protect Cells
⏷ Navigate Between Cells
⏷ Move or Shift Cells
⏷ Swapping Cells
⏷ Merge and Unmerge Cells
⏷ Split Data of a Cell
⏷ Edit Cell Content

What Is a Cell in Excel?

The cell is the smallest unit of the Excel worksheet. It is the intersection point of a row and column and is referred to as the combination of a letter and a number e.g., A1.

We can see the address of the active cell in the Name Box.

The currently selected cell in the worksheet is called the Active Cell.

How to Select Cells in Excel?

You can select a cell, a range of cells, and non-contiguous cells using your mouse. There are also some keyboard shortcuts available.

Selecting a Single Cell:

Click the cell to select it.

Selecting a Range of Contiguous Cells:

Select a single cell. Left-click and drag the cursor in any direction to select multiple contiguous cells.

Or hold Shift and press the arrow keys on the keyboard to drag the selection cursor over the cells.

Selecting Non-Contiguous Cells:

To select multiple non-contiguous cells, press and hold Ctrl and select cells one by one.

Selecting All Cells:

Select any cell of a range or table and press Ctrl+A twice.

or hover your mouse to the place where row and column headers merge and click.

How to Insert and Delete Cells in Excel?

Inserting Cells:

To insert a new blank cell after C6 in the same column:

Steps to follow:

Place the cursor over C7 and right-click.
Select Insert in the Context Menu.
Choose Shift cells down in Insert.

Content in C7:C14 will be moved one cell down, and a new blank cell will be created in C7.

To insert N cells, select N cells. Right-click and follow the the same procedure described above.

If you choose Shift cells right, the existing cells will be shifted rightwards.

Deleting Cells:

To delete C7:

Steps to follow:

Select C7. Right-click and choose Delete.
Choose Shift cells up in Delete.

C7 is deleted, and the other cells in column C are shifted up

How to Resize Excel Cells?

You can resize cells in Excel by resizing the rows and columns. To resize B4:

1. Use the Resize Cursor

Place the cursor on the right edge of column B.
Left-click and drag the mouse to the right or left to increase or decrease the width.
To modify the height, place the cursor on the bottom edge of row 4.
Left-click and drag the mouse up or downwards to decrease or increase the cell height.

2. Resize a Cell in the Context Menu

Place the mouse on the heading of column B and right-click.
In the Context Menu, select Column Width.
Insert the width and click OK.
Place the mouse on the heading of row 4.
Select Row Height in the Context Menu.
Enter the height and click OK in Row Height.

How to Edit a Cell in Excel?

1. Double-clicking the Left Button of the Mouse

Select a cell and double-click the left mouse button.

2. Using Keyboard

Select a cell and press F2.

On a laptop, press Fn, and then F2.

How to Refer to a Cell in an Excel Formula?

We refer to a cell in an Excel formula using a cell reference. A cell reference is the address of a cell.

There are 3 types of cell references available in Excel: relative, absolute, and mixed.

Relative Cell Reference: In relative cell referencing, both the column and row change when you drag or copy the formula to another location. Example: =A1

Absolute Cell Reference: In absolute cell referencing, both the column and row remain unchanged. The absolute sign ($) is used before the column and row number. Example: =$A$1

Mixed Cell Reference: Every components of a cell will change. The absolute sign is used before the column or row number. Example: =A$1. If you copy this cell reference, only the column letter will change its relative position.

How to Copy, Cut, and Paste Cells in Excel?

Copying and Pasting Cells:

Use Ctrl+C (copy) and Ctrl+V (paste).

Or,

Select the cell or range (E5:E14) and click Copy in Clipboard.
Go to F5 and click Paste in Clipboard.

Cut and Paste Cells:

To cut, press Ctrl+X. Press Ctrl+V to paste.

Or,

Select E5:E14 and click Cut in Clipboard.
Go to F5 and select Paste in Clipboard.

How to Copy Visible Cells Only in Excel?

In the dataset below, rows 9 and 13 are hidden. To copy and paste B5:E14 to another location excluding rows 9 and 13:

1. Applying a Keyboard Shortcut

Select B5:E14 and press Alt + :. only visible cells are selected.

Press Ctrl+C to copy.
Go to B18 and press Ctrl+V to paste.

2. Using the Go To Special Feature

Use the Go To Special feature to select the visible cells only.

Select B5:E14 > Click Find & Select in Editing > Select Go To Special.

In Go To Special, click Visible cells only in Select.
Click OK.

Only visible cells are selected.

Copy and paste visible cells only using Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V.

How to Protect Cells in Excel?

Steps:

Click Select All.
Press Ctrl+1 to open the Format Cells dialog box.

Select Protection.
Uncheck Locked and click OK.

All cells are unlocked. To lock B5:B14 only:

Select B5:B14.
Open the Format Cells dialog box.
Check Lock in Protection.
Click OK.

Go to the Review tab > Click Protect Sheet in Protect.
Check Select locked cells and Select unlocked cells.
Click OK.

The warning shown below will be displayed when clicking any protected cell in B5:B14.

To protect the entire worksheet, lock all cells in Protection. Protect the sheet as shown above.

How to Navigate Between Cells in Excel?

You can move in four directions in Excel using different keyboard keys.

Use arrow keys to navigate in Excel: move up, down, left, and right.

There are other keyboard keys with more features.

Key	Function
Tab	Move rightward
Shift + Tab	Move leftward
Ctrl + Home	Go to the first cell of the sheet, A1
Page Up	Go to the previous page
Page Down	Go to the next page