Range

 

Cell, Row, Column  |  Range Examples  |  Fill a Range  |  Move a Range  |  Copy/Paste a Range  |  Insert Row, Column

A range in Excel is a collection of two or more cells. This chapter gives an overview of some very important range operations.

Cell, Row, Column

Let's start by selecting a cell, row and column.

1. To select cell C3, click on the box at the intersection of column C and row 3.

Select a Cell

2. To select column C, click on the column C header.

Select a Column in Excel

3. To select row 3, click on the row 3 header.

Select a Row

Range Examples

A range is a collection of two or more cells.

1. To select the range B2:C4, click on cell B2 and drag it to cell C4.

Range in Excel

2. To select a range of individual cells, hold down CTRL and click on each cell that you want to include in the range.

A Range of Individual Cells

Fill a Range

To fill a range, execute the following steps.

1a. Enter the value 2 into cell B2.

Enter a Value

1b. Select cell B2, click on the lower right corner of cell B2 and drag it down to cell B8.

Drag it down

Result:

Drag Down Result

This dragging technique is very important and you will use it very often in Excel. Here's another example.

2a. Enter the value 2 into cell B2 and the value 4 into cell B3.

A pattern

2b. Select cell B2 and cell B3, click on the lower right corner of this range and drag it down.

Pattern Dragged Down

Excel automatically fills the range based on the pattern of the first two values. That's pretty cool huh!? Here's another example.

3a. Enter the date 6/13/2030 into cell B2 and the date 6/16/2030 into cell B3.

Date Pattern

3b. Select cell B2 and cell B3, click on the lower right corner of this range and drag it down.

Date Pattern Dragged Down

Note: visit our page about AutoFill for many more examples.

Move a Range

To move a range, execute the following steps.

1. Select a range and click on the border of the range.

Move a Range

2. Drag the range to its new location.

Move Result

Copy/Paste a Range

To copy and paste a range, execute the following steps.

1. Select the range, right click, and then click Copy (or press CTRL + c).

Copy/Paste a Range

2. Select the cell where you want the first cell of the range to appear, right click, and then click Paste under 'Paste Options:' (or press CTRL + v).

Copy/Paste Result

Insert Row, Column

To insert a row between the values 20 and 40 below, execute the following steps.

1. Select row 3.

Insert a Row

2. Right click, and then click Insert.

Click Insert

Result.

Inserted Row

The rows below the new row are shifted down. In a similar way, you can insert a column.