Khan Muhammad Kawser
Knowing how to navigate the worksheet in Excel is like knowing the alphabet of a language. In this article, we shall discuss here the various ways and keyboard shortcuts to move the cells in an Excel Spreadsheet and some key tricks for quick navigation. Before that, let’s introduce ourselves with some basic elements of Excel.
Introduction to Some Basic Elements of Excel Worksheet
- Every Excel worksheet/spreadsheet consists of vertical Columns and horizontal Rows.
- On the top edge, there is Column level. On the left edge, there is a bar showing Row numbers.
- Columns are labeled from A to XFD. Their sequence is as follows: A, B, C…………, X, Y, Z, AA, AB……….., ZX, ZY, ZZ, AAA, AAB……………, XFB, XFC, XFD.
- Rows range from number 1 to 1,048,576.
- The intersection of a row and a column is a single cell.
- Each cell has a unique address made up of its column letter and row number. For example, the address of the first cell is A1. Remember column letter will come first and row number will be placed second in a cell’s address.
- An Excel 2013 spreadsheet is made up of more than 17 billion cells.
- The address of the last cell in an excel spreadsheet is XFD1048576.
- Active Cell means that the cell is in an active mood. That means if you enter something from your keyboard, this cell will accept it. If there were something in the active cell beforehand, it will be deleted.
- You can recognize the active cell by noticing the darker border around it.
- Row and column headings of the active cell will also appear darker to make it easier to identify the row and column of the active cell.
- For a new worksheet, the active cell will be A1 by default.
- If you have opened an existing spreadsheet, the active cell will be the last cell you selected before saving and closing the spreadsheet.
Now that we have familiarized ourselves with some basic elements of Excel, we will discuss the Keyboard Shortcuts for Moving around Excel Spreadsheets.
Read More: How to Move Cells with Keyboard in Excel (3 Methods)
4 Useful Methods to Move Things Down in Excel
In this section, we will demonstrate 4 effective methods to move down in Excel with relevant examples. Here we have a column containing the Names of 10 students.
Now, if we need to move any single cell down, we can follow the methods mentioned below.
1. Use Insert Option to Move Things Down
From the data set above, we can see that our list has started at B3, We can move the list down by any number of rows by following the procedure below. Let’s see how we can move the list 1 row down.
Steps:
- Select the first row of the list, which is B4.
- Now right-click on the mouse and select
- Now in the new pop-up window, select Shift cells Down, and Click
- You will see that the entire list has moved down by 1 cell.
- To move 2 cells down, you have to first select the first two cells in the list and follow the same process.
- In this way, you can move a group of cells or a single cell to any number of cells down.
2. Use Shift Key and Mouse to Move Rows Down in Excel
This is the simplest method to move cells or rows down. For illustration, we will first move the top row to the last. Follow the steps mentioned below.
Steps:
- Select the top row.
- Bring the mouse cursor to the top edge. Here, you should notice the Move Icon, which looks like a four-directional arrow icon.
- Now hold the Shift key and drag it down to the bottom until you see an icon like this in the figure below.
- Now drop the selected row. You will see that the selected row has come to the bottom, and the other cells have moved just 1 cell up.
3. Utilize Copy and Insert Copied Cells Command to Move Things Down
Another good way to move cells down is to use Copy and Insert Copied Cells commands. Suppose we want to move the cell B6 cell to B10. We need to follow the steps below:
Steps:
- Select the B6 cell and, go to Home Tab, select Copy Option.
- You can also do the same task by typing ctrl+C.
- Now select the B10 cell and press right-click on the mouse. You will see a dialogue box like below. Here, you have to choose Insert Copied Cells.
- After selecting the command, you will see another window like this.
- Here, select Shift cells down and click OK. You will have the following result.
- Here we can see that cell B10 has been replaced with B6. Also, the cells below B10 have been moved down by one cell. Hence the value in B13 has moved to Cell B14.
- But as we don’t want the value Cathy Belucchi in B6, we need to delete it.
- After deleting it, and shifting the cell up, we will have the result like this.
From the result, we can see that all the cells under B6 have moved up. So essentially we have moved the cell B6 to B9.
4. Apply Cut and Insert Cut Cells Command to Move Things Down
An alternative way (perhaps even better) to move cell is to use the Cut and Insert Cut Cells commands. In this method, you don’t even need to delete the last cell, unlike the previous method, as excel itself automatically does it.
Steps:
- Select the B6 cell, go to Home Tab, and select Cut Option.
- You can also press ctrl+x to cut the cell.
- Now, select cell B10 and Right Click on the mouse. A menu will appear like the below figure.
- Now select Insert Cut Cells. Then, you will get the exact similar result as the final result of method 2.
Apply Keyboard Commands to Find Last Cell in Excel
There are two shortcuts for finding the last cell in excel.
- End Key:
- Press End Key and then Down Arrow Key (End →⬇️), You will reach the last row.
- Press the End key and then the Right Arrow Key(End →➡️), and you will reach the last cell.
- Ctrl Key:
- Hold the Ctrl key and press the Down Arrow Key ( Ctrl+⬇️ )to reach in the last row.
- Hold the Ctrl key and press the Right Arrow Key ( Ctrl+➡️ )to reach in the last cell.
Please remember that you don’t have to follow the sequence shown above to reach the last cell. You can go to the last cell by following the alternate order as well.
Tip: If you turn on the Scroll Lock key on your keyboard and scroll through the worksheet, then the position of the active cell will not be changed. If your keyboard does not show any Scroll Lock key, then go to start menu, then Accessories, then choose Ease of Access, then click to select On-screen keyboard and select ScrLk key in the keyboard. When Scroll Lock is turned on, Excel displays Scroll Lock in the status bar at the bottom of the window.
If your Num Lock is on, the navigation keys(arrows) on your numeric keypad generate numbers. When the Num Lock is off, then the navigation keys on the numeric keypad behave like navigation keys. Many keyboards have a separate set of navigation (arrow) keys located to the left of the numeric keypad. These navigation keys’ functionality does not depend on the Num Lock key’s state(whether it is on or off.)
Worksheet’s Active Cell Movement Keys:
| Key | Active Cell Movement |
|---|---|
| Up Arrow(↑) | Moves the active cell up by one row |
| Down Arrow(↓) | Moves the active cell down by one row |
| Left arrow(←) or Shift+Tab | Moves the active cell one column to the left |
| Right arrow(→) or Tab | Moves the active cell one column to the right |
| PgUp | Moves the active cell up by one screen |
| PgDn | Moves the active cell down by one screen |
| Alt+PgUp | Moves the active cell left by one screen |
| Alt+PgDn | Moves the active cell right by one screen |
| Ctrl+Backspace | Scrolls the screen so that the active cell is visible |
| ↑* | Scrolls the screen up by one row (active cell position is not changed) |
| ↓* | Scrolls the screen down one row (active cell position is not changed) |
| ←* | Scrolls the screen left one column (active cell position is not changed) |
| →* | Scrolls the screen right one column (active cell position is not changed) |
*With Scroll Lock-on
Read More: Excel Formula to Move Data from One Cell to Another
Similar Readings
- How to Use the Arrows to Move Screen Not Cell in Excel (4 Methods)
- Fix: Excel Cannot Shift Nonblank Cells (4 Methods)
- How to Shift Cells Right in Excel (4 Quick Ways)
- Shift Data Up in Excel (3 Easiest Ways)
- How to Shift Rows Down in Excel (3 Simple & Easy Ways)
Navigating using a mouse is very handy when it comes to working in a large spreadsheet where the data are spread out. The methods for using mouse in navigation are as follows:
- If you want to change the active cell by using your mouse, just click another cell, and it becomes now the active cell.
- If your desired cell isn’t visible in the excel spreadsheet window, you can use the scrollbars to scroll the window in any direction to reach your desired cell.
- To scroll one cell, click either of the arrows on the scrollbar.
- To scroll by a complete screen, click either side of the scrollbar’s scroll box(remember, it is not the arrow of the scrollbar, it is scroll box). You can also drag the scroll box for faster scrolling.
- If you want to zoom in or zoom out the spreadsheet, press CTRL and move the mouse wheel up or down.
- If you want to zoom in or out of the spreadsheet without pressing CTRL, follow the below steps:
- In your worksheet, go File Tab.
-
- Select Options from the bottom.
-
- and then select ‘Advanced‘ section. Place a right-click next to the ‘Zoom on roll with IntelliMouse‘ checkbox.
Read More: [Fixed!] Unable to Move Cells in Excel (5 Solutions)
Conclusion
This is the end of this article. If you find this article helpful, please share it with your friends. Furthermore, if you have any queries, let us know by commenting on the post. We will reply as soon as possible. Visit our Exeldemy websites for more articles like this.
