Chapter 4: Working with Excel Ranges and Tables
4
Selecting complete rows and columns
Often, you’ll need to select an entire row or column. For example, you may want to apply
the same numeric format or the same alignment options to an entire row or column. You
can select entire rows and columns in much the same manner as you select ranges:■ Click the row or column header to select a single row or column or click and drag
for multiple rows or columns.
■ To select multiple (nonadjacent) rows or columns, click the first row or column
header and then hold down the Ctrl key while you click the additional row or col-
umn header that you want.■ (^) Press Ctrl+spacebar to select the column(s) of the currently selected cells. Press
Shift+spacebar to select the row(s) of the currently selected cells.
Press Ctrl+A to select all cells in the worksheet, which is the same as selecting all rows and all columns. If the active
cell is within a contiguous range, Ctrl+A will just select that range. In that case, press Ctrl+A again to select all of
the cells in the worksheet. You can also click the area at the intersection of the row and column headers to select all
cells.
Selecting noncontiguous ranges
Most of the time, the ranges that you select are contiguous—a single rectangle of cells.
Excel also enables you to work with noncontiguous ranges, which consist of two or more
ranges (or single cells) that aren’t necessarily adjacent to each other. Selecting noncontigu-
ous ranges is also known as a multiple selection. If you want to apply the same formatting
to cells in different areas of your worksheet, one approach is to make a multiple selection.
When the appropriate cells or ranges are selected, the formatting that you select is applied
to all of them. Figure 4.2 shows a noncontiguous range selected in a worksheet. Three
ranges are selected: B3:E3, B6:C8, and cell F15.
You can select a noncontiguous range in the same ways that you select a contiguous
range with a few minor differences. Instead of simply clicking and dragging for contigu-
ous ranges, hold down the Ctrl key while you click and drag. If you’re selecting a range
using the arrow keys, press Shift+F8 to enter Add or Remove Selection mode (that term
will appear in the status bar). Press Shift+F8 again to exit Add or Remove Selection mode.
Anywhere you type the range manually, such as in the Name box or the Go To dialog box,
simply separate the noncontiguous ranges with a comma. For example, typing A1:A10,
C5:C6 will select those two noncontiguous ranges.
Noncontiguous ranges differ from contiguous ranges in several important ways. One major difference is that you can’t
use drag-and-drop methods (described later) to move or copy noncontiguous ranges.