How to Make Rows & Columns in a Spreadsheet

Add rows and columns to spreadsheets using a single menu command.

Spreadsheet programs give you the ability to view, create and make changes to tabular data stored in a series of rows and columns. By default, new spreadsheets give you hundreds or thousands of pre-existing rows and columns into which data can be inserted and formatted. If you already populated your document with data, but need to make a new row or column in between a pair of existing rows or columns, popular spreadsheet programs allow you perform each task.

Instructions

Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice.org Calc

1. Open the spreadsheet you want to edit in Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice.org Calc.

2. Look to the left edge of the spreadsheet and click the heading label of the row directly below the location of the new row to highlight it.

3. Right-click any cell within the highlighted row and select "Insert." A new, blank row immediately appears directly above.

4. Look to the top edge of the spreadsheet and click the heading label of the column directly to the right of the location of the new column to highlight it.

5. Right-click any cell within the highlighted column and select "Insert." A new, blank column immediately appears directly to the left.

Google Docs or Zoho Sheet

1. Open a web browser and navigate to the Google Docs or Zoho Sheet website. Log into the site when prompted and then open the spreadsheet you want to edit.

2. Look to the left edge of the spreadsheet and click the heading label of the row either above or below the location of the new row to highlight it.

3. Right-click any cell within the highlighted row. Select "Row Above" or "Row Below" if you use Google Docs. In Zoho Sheet, first select "Insert" and then choose either "Row Above" or "Row Below." A new, blank row immediately appears at the selected position.

4. Look to the top edge of the spreadsheet and click the heading label of the column located either to the left or to the right of the location of the new column to highlight it.

5. Right-click any cell within the highlighted column. Select "Column Before" or "Column After" if you use Google Docs. In Zoho Sheet, first select "Insert" and then choose either "Column Before" or "Column After." A new, blank column immediately appears at the selected position.

References

• Microsoft Office Excel: Insert Rows, Columns or Cells
• OpenOffice.org Documentation: Chapter 7, Getting Started With Calc
• Google Docs Help: Rows and Columns, Adding and Deleting Rows or Columns

Resources

• Google Docs: Online Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Surveys
• Zoho Sheet: Online Spreadsheets