How to Move Cells with Keyboard in Excel (3 Methods)

While working on Microsoft Excel Sometimes we need to move cells quickly for the ease of working. You can move cells in excel very smoothly with the keyboard. In this article, I am going to share with you 3 easy methods to move cells with the keyboard. You don’t have to use the mouse either.


Suppose we have a dataset of some students’ Names, Departments, Id No., and Grade. In this article, we will move cells in this dataset using keyboard buttons and shortcuts.

How to Move Cells with Keyboard in Excel


1. Performing Copy-Paste Method with Keyboard to Move Cells in Excel

If you want to move your cell into a new location you can apply the copy paste method in excel.

Steps:

  • Select a row. Here I have selected cell (B13) to (E13).
  • Press Ctrl+C to copy.

Perform Copy-Paste Method to Move Cells in Excel

  • Select a new cell where you want to paste.
  • press Ctrl+V to paste.

Perform Copy-Paste Method to Move Cells in Excel

  • You will see we have successfully moved the cell by applying copy-paste.

Read More: How to Move a Group of Cells in Excel


2. Inserting New Row or Column to Move Cells with Keyboard

By combining Ctrl and Shift keys you can insert new rows or columns in Excel. Follow the following steps below-

Steps:

  • Firstly select a row. Here I have selected row (11).
  • Now holding the Shift key press the down arrow(↓) twice to select the 12th and 13th rows from the dataset.

Insert New Row or Column

  • While the rows are selected press: Ctrl+Shift+Plus sign(+) to insert new rows.

  • Thus you can move cells by inserting new rows with the keyboard in Excel.

Insert New Rows or Columns

Read More: How to Move Cells in Excel with Arrow Keys


3. Deleting Column or Row in Excel to Move Cells with Keyboard

By deleting columns or rows with the keyboard you can also move cells with the keyboard in Excel. Follow the steps below-

Steps:

  • Choose a row from the dataset. Here I have chosen the 13th
  • Press the Ctrl+Minus sign(-) from the keyboard to remove the row.

Delete Column or Row

  • As you can see the row has been removed. Thus by deleting rows, you can move cells with the keyboard in Excel.


Things to Remember

  • When shifting between cells don’t forget to turn the Scroll key.
  • You can check in the status bar whether the Scroll Lock is on or off.

Download Practice Workbook

Download this practice workbook to exercise while you are reading this article.


Conclusion

In this article, I have covered about 3 methods to moving cells with the help of a keyboard in Excel. I hope you have a clear view of moving cells with the help of a keyboard. If you find any problems regarding this don’t forget to let us know in the comment section below. Thanks!


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Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram holds a BSc degree in Industrial and Production Engineering from Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology. Over the past 2 years, he has been actively contributing to the ExcelDemy project, where he has authored more than 150 articles. Now, he is working as an Excel VBA and Content Developer. He likes learning new things about Microsoft Office, especially Excel VBA, Power Query, Data Analysis, and Excel Statistics. He is also very interested in machine learning and... Read Full Bio

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