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Select a cell range

Select a range of adjacent cells​

tip

Multiple selection is used to select non-adjacent ranges.

To select a range of adjacent cells, use one of the following methods:

  • Move the cursor to the first cell in the desired range. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the cursor to the last cell of the range. The range field will display a tooltip about the size of the selected area. Release the left mouse button.
  • Select the first cell of the desired range. Hold the Shift key pressed and select the last cell of the range.
  • Select a range of cells using the keyboard shortcuts listed in the table of keyboard shortcuts, in the Select cells, columns, and rows section.

The desired range can be selected in any direction of the row or column. The position of the active cell depends on the direction of selection.

Examples of selecting an arbitrary range of adjacent cells:

range_row range_column range_rect

To select a range of cells, you can also use the Extended selection between cells mode. In this mode, the active cell becomes an “anchor” from which a range can be selected in any direction.

Using the Extended selection between cells mode:

  1. Select the cell where you want the range selection to begin.

  2. Enable the mode in one of the following ways:

    • On the Status bar, click the status_bar_selection_mode button and select Extended selection between cells.
    • Press F8.

  3. Select the last cell of the range in one of the following ways:

    • Click it with the mouse.
    • Drag the cursor to it while holding down the left mouse button.
    • Drag the corner handle of the first cell in the range to it.
    • Use the ↑, ↓, ←, → keys, or other keys listed in the table of keyboard shortcuts in the Select cells, columns, and rows section.

  4. To select a different range, select the last cell of the other range.

  5. If necessary, you can change the active cell that functions as the “anchor”. To change it within the selected range, use the keyboard shortcuts described in the Select the active cell section. To change the active cell while clearing the range selection, click a new cell while holding Ctrl down.

  6. To complete the selection, disable the mode. To do this, follow the same steps you used to enable it, or press Esc.

Select all cells in the sheet​

To select all cells within the workspace of the current sheet, do one of the following:

  • Move the cursor to the upper left corner of the workspace so that the cursor changes to cur_angled_arrow_com_ic, and left-click.
  • On the Home tab, in the Edit group, click t_home_select_all Select all.
  • Press Ctrl+A.
tip

If an object (image, shape, or chart) is selected on the sheet, deselect it before selecting all cells using the keyboard shortcut.

When you use these commands, only cells on the current sheet are selected. Cells on other sheets of the spreadsheet are not selected.

When you switch to another sheet, the selection on the current sheet is retained.

Deselect​

To deselect the range, left-click any cell in the sheet.