Inserting Cells

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 21, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


As you are editing your worksheet, it not untypical that you will need to move things around. One of the most common way of doing this is to insert cells, which will result in the movement of existing cells. You can insert a cell (or cells) in your worksheet by following these steps:
  1. Select the cell or cells that indicate where you want your new cells inserted. Make sure that the number of cells you select represents the same number you want to insert. Thus, if you want to insert four cells, you would select four cells at the point where the insertion is to take place.
  2. Choose Cells from the Insert menu. Excel displays the Insert dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Insert dialog box.

  4. Select how you want the current cells in the worksheet affected.
  5. Click on OK. Your cells are inserted.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2656) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Setting Tab Stops Using the Tabs Dialog Box

Aligning different lines in your document is easy. Using the tab stops feature in Word, you can set four different types ...

Discover More

Copying Paragraph Formatting with the Mouse

When you get one paragraph formatted just the way you want, you might want to copy that formatting so it can be applied ...

Discover More

Conditionally Highlighting Cells Containing Formulas

Excel's conditional formatting feature allows you to create formats that are based on a wide variety of criteria. If you ...

Discover More

Best-Selling VBA Tutorial for Beginners Take your Excel knowledge to the next level. With a little background in VBA programming, you can go well beyond basic spreadsheets and functions. Use macros to reduce errors, save time, and integrate with other Microsoft applications. Fully updated for the latest version of Office 365. Check out Microsoft 365 Excel VBA Programming For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Speeding Up Large Worksheets

If your worksheet gets large enough, you may notice a severe slowdown when it is recalculated. This tip provides some ...

Discover More

Changing Your Company Name

The installation process for Office and Excel allows you to specify a company name. If your company name later changes, ...

Discover More

Disabling the Insert Key

Tap the Insert key and you can start overwriting information already in a cell. If you don't want to do this, one way to ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is nine minus 0?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.