Lutful Hamid
Rows run horizontally along the gridlines of Excel worksheet. Shifting rows down in Excel is a simple and easy task to perform. You can do this by several methods. In this article, we will walk you through 3 simple and easy ways to shift rows down in Excel. We will show you how to do this using Excel features and keyboard shortcuts. Suppose we have a worksheet containing sales information of a hardware store. The three columns in the sheet are Date, Product, and Invoice No.
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Simple and Easy Ways to Shift Rows Down in Excel
Now we want to shift some rows down. Suppose we want to shift the first three rows down as shown in the picture. We want to put the entries made in February below the entries made in January.
We can do so using several methods. Below is the step-by-step guide to shift rows down.
1. Shifting Multiple Rows Down Using Cut and Paste in Excel
The simplest of methods to shift rows down is the Cut and Paste method. We will first select the rows we want to shift downwards. Here, we will shift row 5, 6 and 7.
To select entire rows, we can click on the numbers in the left most side of the sheet.
We can use the keyboard shortcut SHIFT + SPACEBAR to select the entire row corresponding selected cell. Here we have selected row 5,6 and 7. Now we can Cut the rows using keyboard shortcut CTRL + X. We can also cut the rows by right clicking the mouse.
Another way to cut the rows is to use the Cut option in the Home tab.
After using the Cut option, we will use the Paste option to move the rows in our desired location.
Here we have moved the rows 5,6 and 7 to rows 15,16 and 17.
Read More: How to Move Cells without Replacing in Excel (3 Methods)
2. Drag the Selection of Multiple Rows to Shift Rows Down in Excel
2.1. CTRL + Drag
First, we will select the entire rows we want to shift. In this case, we will shift row 5, 6 and 7.
Then we will press CTRL + Drag to copy and move the selection. When we press CTRL + Drag a new type of handle will appear as shown in the picture below.
Then we will drag the selection where we want to put it. Remember that using CTRL + Drag will copy the data. If there is any data in the place, we want to Paste our copied data, it will replace the existing data.
2.2. SHIFT+ Drag
First, we will select the entire row(s) that we want to shift. We selected row 5, 6 and 7.
Then we will hold the SHIFT key and take the mouse to the border. A move handle will appear. Then we will drag the selection to shift rows downward.
The rows will shift downward. Remember that pressing SHIFT while moving the data will not copy the data, only shift the data.
Notice that, previous data has moved up while selected rows have shifted downward.
Read More: How to Move Rows Up in Excel (2 Quick Methods)
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3. Shifting Rows Down in Excel by Inserting New Row(s)
Inserting new rows above the rows we want to shift will put the rows downward. To do so, we first need to select the number of rows we want to shift. Then we can insert new rows above the selection to move the selected rows downward. This is important because the new blank rows will appear above the selected rows. Here, we will shift row 5, 6 and7.
Another important thing is that the number of newly inserted rows will be same as the number of selected rows.
3.1. Using Right Click/ Context Menu
We can use the mouse to insert new rows. By right-clicking the mouse, we will open a menu showing the insert option.
After clicking Insert we will see that three new rows have appeared above the selection.
The reason for the three new rows is that we have selected three new rows beforehand.
3.2. Using Ribbon
We can also use ribbon to insert new rows above. To insert new rows from the ribbon we need to go to the Home tab >> Insert >> Insert Sheet Rows.
New rows will appear above the selected region.
To know more about inserting new rows, you can check this article!!
Read More: How to Shift Cells Right in Excel (4 Quick Ways)
Things to Remember
SHIFT + Drag will move the rows but will not copy them.
CTRL + Drag will copy the selection.
If we insert new row(s), those will always appear above the selection.
The number of newly inserted rows will always be equal to the number of selected rows.
Practice Section
We have included a practice section in the worksheet so that you can practice on your own.
Conclusion
In this article, we have demonstrated 3 methods on how to shift rows down in Excel. Practice these methods so that you can perform this operation in Excel quickly and efficiently. For any Excel-related problems, feel free to leave comments below. Our team will get back to you at the earliest convenience.
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