How to Randomly Select Rows in an Excel Spreadsheet
Sometimes you just need to put things into random order. The developers of Microsoft Excel understood this, and that is why they built a random number generator function into Excel. It is easy to use and once you understand how to use it, you'll be able to turn all kinds of neatly ordered data into random data.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
Randomly Selecting Rows In Your Excel Spreadsheet
-
1
Add a blank column to the left of your data by putting your cursor in the first column and choosing "Insert... Sheet Columns."
-
2
Select the empty cells in the first column, going down only to the number of rows you have.
-
-
3
In the formula bar, enter =RAND() and press "Enter." This will place a randomly generated number in each of the highlighted cells.
-
4
Sort your spreadsheet by the numbers on the left. This will give you a new, random order. If you needed to select five entries, then just choose the top five on your new randomized list.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Always save your data before performing a new operation in Excel.
