Fast Ways to Select Cell(s), Row(s), Column(s) or the Entire Worksheet and Get Around

by Jason Morrell
November 30, 2021

In this post you'll discover how to select blocks of content instead of going cell by cell and some some fast ways to get around a worksheet.

Clickable Table of Contents

1. Moving around a worksheet

2. Navigating directly to a chosen cell

3. Selecting a cell

4. Selecting a range of cells

5. Selecting row(s) or column(s)

6. Selecting the entire worksheet

7. Key Takeaways

1. Moving around a worksheet

Use the cursor keys to move one cell in any direction.
Use the Page Up and Down keys to move up or down one screen of data.
Use the scroll bars below and to the right of the worksheet to scroll through the worksheet.
Use the mouse wheel to scroll through the worksheet.
To go to cell A1, press Ctrl Home (Ctrl Home).
To go to the last active cell in the worksheet, press Ctrl End (Ctrl End).
To go to the last row (1,048,576), press Ctrl ↓.
To go to the last column (XFD), press Ctrl →.

2. Navigating directly to a chosen cell

To go directly to a cell (only really useful in large spreadsheets)

1. Press Ctrl G or press F5.

2. Specify the worksheet name and cell reference (e.g. B2).

How to resize, insert or delete row(s) and column(s)

3. Selecting a cell

1. Click in the cell.

2. To select other non-adjacent cells at the same time, hold down the Ctrl key and click on the other cells.

4. Selecting a range of cells

Click in the first cell, hold the left mouse button, move to another cell and release the button. This is called Click and Drag,
To select two ranges, select the first range, hold down the CTRL key and select the second range.
To extend the range, hold down SHIFT and use the cursor keys

5. Selecting row(s) or column(s)

Move the mouse pointer over the row or column label (shaded grey). The pointer will change to a down-arrow (for columns) or a right-arrow (for rows). Click the left mouse button. The selected row or column will be highlighted.
Alternatively, select any cell then press Ctrl + Spacebar to select a column or Shift _ Spacebar to select a row.
To select additional adjacent rows or columns, select the first column then while holding down the left mouse button, move to another row or column and release the button. All selected rows or columns will be highlighted.
To select non-adjacent rows or columns, hold down § and click each column or row label.

6. Selecting the entire worksheet

To select every cell on the sheet:

1. Click the grey block between the ‘A’ column label and the ‘1’ row label.

2. Alternatively, press Ctrl A.

7. Key Takeaways

The following methods can be used to navigate a worksheet:
Cursor (arrow) keys, page up and page down keys, scroll bar, mouse wheel and the Go To tool.
To go to cell A1, press Ctrl Home.
To go to the last active cell in the worksheet, press Ctrl End.
To select a range of cells, click in the middle of the first cell then with the mouse button still pressed, drag to the last cell in the range. The first cell you selected will be a lighter colour to indicate that it’s the active cell.
To select a whole column, click the column selector (the letter blocks at the top of the sheet).
To select a whole row, click the row selector (the number blocks on the left of the sheet).
To select the entire worksheet, press Ctrl A, or click the empty selector block between “A” and “1”.
To go directly to any cell on any worksheet, press Ctrl G or press F5 or click in the Name box, then type the cell reference and press Enter.

I hope you found plenty of value in this post. I'd love to hear your biggest takeaway in the comments below together with any questions you may have.

Have a fantastic day.

About the author

Jason Morrell

Jason Morrell is a professional trainer, consultant and course creator who lives on the glorious Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.

He helps people of all levels unleash and leverage the power contained within Microsoft Office by delivering training, troubleshooting services and taking on client projects. He loves to simplify tricky concepts and provide helpful, proven, actionable advice that can be implemented for quick results.

Purely for amusement he sometimes talks about himself in the third person.

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