How to select one or more cells in a spreadsheet program

Updated: 12/31/2020 by Computer Hope

In a spreadsheet program, like Microsoft Excel, it is possible to select or highlight one or more cells, allowing you to apply formatting to those cells or copy the cells. To learn more about how to select cells, continue reading.

• Select a single cell.
• Select multiple individual cells.
• Select a range of cells.
• Select all cells.

Select a single cell

To select a single cell in a spreadsheet, left-click on the desired cell with your mouse. Once a single cell is selected, it becomes the active cell and appears bold or have a box surrounding the cell.

Tip

You can also use the keyboard arrow keys to move the selected cell (active cell). If nothing is contained in the cell, you can begin typing to insert text into the cell. If you want to modify pre-existing data in that cell, you can press the F2 on the keyboard.

If you need to select more than one cell, continue reading the next sections.

Select multiple individual cells

To select multiple individual cells in a spreadsheet, follow the steps below.

1. Press and hold Ctrl.
2. While holding the Ctrl, left-click on each cell you want to select.

As shown in the picture above, each selected cell will be shaded, to indicate it is selected.

Tip

If you want to change the properties of the selected cells once highlighted (e.g., changing the cell color), right-click any of the highlighted cells and select Properties.

Note

When highlighting multiple cells, the active cell is also part of the highlighted cells. In our above example, cells B1, A2, C4, and B5 are all selected. Even though B1 is not shaded because it is active it is considered a selected cell.

Select a range of cells

Follow either of the following options to select a range of cells in a spreadsheet.

Option 1 - Drag mouse

1. Left-click with your mouse on the first cell in the range you want to select.
2. While holding down the left mouse button, drag the mouse cursor to the last cell in the range.

For example, if you want to select cells A1 through A5, left-click the A1 cell, then drag the mouse to the A5 cell while still holding the left mouse button.

Option 2 - Shift click

1. Left-click with your mouse on the first cell in the range you want to select.
2. Press and hold the Shift.
3. While still holding Shift, left-click the last cell in the range.

For example, if you want to select cells A1 through E1, left-click the A1 cell, press and hold Shift, then click the E1 cell.

Using either of the options above, a range of cells should be selected, as shown in the pictures above.

Select all cells

To select all cells in a spreadsheet, follow the steps below.

1. Move to the very top row and left-most column of the spreadsheet.
2. Click the square area with a shaded triangle, located above the "1" for the first row and to the left of the "A" column header. All cells in the spreadsheet are highlighted after clicking that square area.

Tip

You can also press Ctrl+A to select all cells in a spreadsheet.