Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Moving Drawing Objects.

Moving Drawing Objects

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 28, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Over the course of many ExcelTips you have learned different ways to create objects using the drawing tools provided in Excel. If you later want to change the positioning of these objects, you can do so in this manner:

  1. Using the mouse, point to the shape you want to move and click on it. Excel places small squares or circles called handles around the shape.
  2. Using the mouse, point to the object. The mouse pointer should turn into a four-headed arrow.
  3. Click and hold down the mouse button. Drag the object to the position desired.
  4. Release the mouse button.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3239) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Moving Drawing Objects.

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

Making Spell Check Ignore Characters

The rules of professional editing often require that editorial changes in a quote be noted with brackets. These brackets, ...

Discover More

Creating Usable Figure Captions

Many people add both images and figure captions within text boxes so they can be easily positioned within a document. ...

Discover More

Moving Footnote References Using Find and Replace

When you are editing a document, you may need to modify where the author placed footnotes relative to surrounding ...

Discover More

Solve Real Business Problems Master business modeling and analysis techniques with Excel and transform data into bottom-line results. This hands-on, scenario-focused guide shows you how to use the latest Excel tools to integrate data from multiple tables. Check out Microsoft Excel Data Analysis and Business Modeling today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Inserting Multiple Drawing Objects

When you need to add more than one of a particular drawing object to a worksheet, you can use the techniques described in ...

Discover More

Drawing Lines

Excel doesn't limit you to only numbers and text in your worksheets. You can also add different types of shapes. Here's ...

Discover More

Using Chart Titles

Titles can be a great addition to any chart. They help provide explanatory information about the information in the ...

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 four less than 5?

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.