Your spreadsheets are always evolving. As you add more data and more formulas, you might find that you need to re-organize the spreadsheet. So, how do you do that without breaking everything?
It’s easy to redesign a spreadsheet when you know the tricks of the trade. Let’s learn how to move columns in Excel.
How to Move Columns in Excel
You’ve got a column that you need to move to somewhere else in your spreadsheet. Start by choosing a column that you want to move, and identify a column where it should move too.
Click on the column header, the letter at the top of the column. Then, hover over the line between where the spreadsheet starts and the column header ends, as you can see in the screenshot below. You’ll see the arrow change to a four-way arrow with your mouse cursor.
Now, with the four-way arrow still showing, click and drag the column to a new column. You’ll see the data move. Notice that all of the formulas move and the spreadsheet works the same.
That’s it! This approach shifts the entire column and all of the data and formulas in it.
How to Move Content in Columns
In the section above, you saw how to move entire columns of data. What if you just want to move some of the cells? Let’s look at another example.
To move cells in a column, start by highlighting the content in Excel. Then, use the Ctrl + X keyboard shortcut to Cut the cells you’ve selected onto your clipboard.
Then, find a location and press Ctrl + V to paste the cells. This approach moves all formulas and data so that you don’t have to rewrite formulas.
It’s important to use Cut and not Copy (Ctrl + C) when you move cells. Read more about the difference between copying and cutting in our guide, Copy a Formula in Excel.
Standard Error in Excel