Multiple Excel Cells Are Selected with One Click (4 Causes+Solutions)

Usually clicking on an Excel cell alters the cell selection. This means clicking on a cell in Excel changes the cell selection from the previously selected cell to the last cell that you have clicked on. But there are some incidents, where clicking on an Excel cell selects multiple cells instead of selection alteration. In this article, you will get to know why multiple Excel cells are selected with one click and their possible solutions to get back to the default state.

Multiple Excel Cells Are Selected with One Click: 4 Causes and Solutions

1. Disable Extend Selection Mode If Multiple Cells Are Selected with One Click

Look at the following screenshot. Only cell B5 is selected.

Now I’ve clicked on cell D7.

What should happen here?

Cell D7 should be selected moving the selection from cell B5.

But what we see is all the cells from cell B5 to D7 are selected here instead of just moving the selection from cell B5 to D7.

Now if I further click on cell E11, all the cells from cell B5 to cell E11 are selected.

This happens because the worksheet currently is in Extend Selection mode.

That’s why clicking on cells extends the selection area instead of simply switching the selection from one cell to another.

To turn it off, press the F8 button from the keyboard. If this doesn’t work then try Fn + F8.

This will reset the worksheet to normal mode.

2. Exit Add to Selection Mode to Solve Multiple Cells Are Selected with One Click

In the following screenshot, cells B5, B6, D6, and C7 are selected.

Now if I further click on different cells randomly, all the cells get selected.

This happens because the current worksheet is in Add to Selection mode.

To turn this mode off, press the SHIFT + F8 key. If this doesn’t work for you, then try Fn + SHIFT + F8.

This will reset your worksheet selection settings to normal mode.

3. Unmerge to Avoid One-Click Selection of Multiple Cells

If you have merged multiple cells together, then click on one of those cells and select all the cells.

If you don’t want this to happen, then follow the steps below to unmerge all the cells.

❶ First click on the merged cells.

❷ Go to the Home.

❸ Under the Alignment group, you will find the Merge & Center drop-down. Click on it.

❹ From the drop-down, click on Unmerge Cells.

This will unmerge all the cells. Thus you won’t face any kinds of problems regarding multiple cell selection with one mouse click.

4. Fix CTRL or SHIFT Keys If They Are Depressed to Avoid Multiple Cells Selection Issue

If your CTRL key or the SHIFT key is depressed for any reason, you will see that clicking on a single cell selects multiple Excel cells.

When your CTRL button is depressed, then clicking on any of the cells will select them all just like the Add to Selection mode.

If your SHIFT key is depressed, then clicking on any of the cells will select all the cells from the previous cell that was already selected to the last cell that you’ve just clicked on. You will get the same experience as in the Expand Selection mode.

You can check whether your CTRL and SHIFT are depressed or not from the Key Test website.

How to Select Multiple Excel Cells with One Click

We have learned the issues and solutions of unexpected selections of multiple cells with one click so far. In this section, we will discuss 3 techniques to select multiple cells with one click.

1. Click on Row or Column Number to Select All Cells in Row or Column

Clicking on the row number or the column number also selects multiple cells.

For example, if you click on the row number, it will select all the cells in that entire row.

If you click on the column number, all the cells in that column will also be selected.

2. Click on the Triangle Icon in the Upper Left Corner to Select All the Excel Cells in the Current Worksheet

If you click on the little triangle icon found in the cross-section between the row number and column number ribbons, all the cells in the entire worksheet will be selected.

3. Create a Named Range for Multiple Cells to Select Them with One Click

If a Named Range includes multiple cells, clicking on the Named Range will select all the cells under that Named Range at once.

Things to Remember

Pressing and holding the CTRL key and clicking on the cells, recreates the Add to Selection
Pressing and holding the SHIFT key and clicking on the cells, recreates the Extend Selection

Download Practice Workbook

You can download the Excel file from the following link and practice along with it.

Fix Multiple Cells Selection Issue.xlsx

Conclusion

To sum up, we have discussed 7 causes, and their corresponding solutions behind multiple cells are selected with one click in Excel. We recommended downloading the practice workbook attached along with this article and practicing all the methods with that. And don’t hesitate to ask any questions in the comment section below. We will try to respond to all the relevant queries.

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