Excel Rows and Columns

Rows and Column in Excel (Table of Contents)

• Rows and Column in Excel
• Rows and Column Navigation in excel
• How to select Rows and Column in excel?
• Changing Row and Column Size
• Adjusting Column Width

Rows and Column in Excel

In Microsoft excel if we open a new workbook we can see that sheet will contain tables with light grey color. Basically excel is a tabular format which contains n number of rows and columns, where rows in excel will be in horizontal line and column in excel will be in vertical line.

• In excel we can find each row by their row number which is shown in the below screenshot which shows vertical numbers on the left side of each sheet.

• As we can see in the above screenshot that each row can be identified by their row numbers like 1, 2, 3 etc.
• Whereas we can find the column in excel which can be identified by the column header like A, B, C. which will be shown normally in all excel sheets which are shown below.

• In excel each column is named by their header which shows column header horizontally at the top of the excel sheet.

Rows and Column in Excel

In Microsoft Excel 2010 and the latest version, we have row numbers ranges from 1 to 1048576 in a total of 1048576, whereas column ranges from A to XFD in a total of 16384 columns. Which is shown in the below screenshot.

Rows in excel range from 1 to 1048576 which is highlighted in red mark

The column in excel ranges from A to XFD which is highlighted in red mark.

Rows and Column Navigation in excel

In this example, we will see how to navigate rows and column with the below examples.

Rows and Column in Excel – Example#1

We can find the last row of excel by using the keyboard shortcut key  CTRL+DOWN NAVIGATION ARROW KEY  or else we can use the vertical scrollbars to go to the end of the row.

We can find the last column of excel by using the CTRL+RIGHT NAVIGATION ARROW KEY or else we can use the horizontal scrollbars to go to the end of the column.

How to select Rows and Column in excel?

In this example, we will learn how to select the rows and column in excel.

Rows and Column in Excel – Example#2

Normally, when we open workbook we can see that sheet contains tabular rows and column where each row are specified by their row number and column which are specified by their column header.

Consider the below example which has some data in excel sheet. Here we will see how to select the rows and column.

In the above screenshot, we can see that names and age column have their own header name A and B and each row has their own row number.

In excel each time when we select a row or column “Name Box” will display the specific row number and column name which is shown in the below screenshot.

In this example, we will select the Names and Age and let’s see how the rows and column header is getting displayed.

Step 1 – First, select the cell Name John.

Step 2 – Once you select the cell name John, in the name box we will get the row number and column name as A2 which means that we have selected A column second row as A2 which is shown in the below screenshot with yellow highlighted.

Step 3 – Now select the cell 23 where it will show the selected cell is B2 which is shown in the below screenshot with yellow highlighted.

Step 4 – Now select the all the name and column so that excel will show that we have 4 rows and 2 columns which are shown in the below screenshot.

In this way, we can identify the row number and column name by selecting each cell in excel.

Changing Row and Column Size

In this example, we will see how to change the row and column size by using the following examples.

Rows and Column in Excel – Example#3

Excel row and column width size can be modified by using the format option in the HOME menu which is shown below.

Using the format menu we can change the row and column width where we have the list option which are as follows:

• ROW HEIGHT– This is used to adjust the row height.
• AUTOFIT ROW HEIGHT– This will automatically adjust the row height.
• COLUMN WIDTH – This is used to adjust column width.
• AUTOFIT COLUMN WIDTH– This will automatically adjust the column width.

Let’s consider the below example to change the row and column width. Follow the below steps.

Step 1 – First, select the second row as shown in the below screenshot.

Step 2 – Go to Format menu and click on ROW HEIGHT as shown below.

Step 3 – Once we select the ROW HEIGHT we will get the below dialog box to change the height of the row.

Step 4 – Now increase the row height to 25 so that the selected row height will get increased as shown in the below screenshot.

We can see that row height has been increased when compared to the previous one, alternatively, we can change the row height by using the mouse.

Step 5 – Now go to the second option in the format list which is called AUTOFIT ROW HEIGHT which will automatically reset the row to its original height.

Step 6 – Select the same row and go to the Format menu.

Step 7 – Now select the “AutoFit Row Height” as shown below.

Once we click on the “AutoFit Row Height” option the row height will get reset to the original position which is shown below.

Adjusting Column Width

We can adjust the column width in the same way by using the format option.

Step 1 – First, click on the cell B cell as shown below.

Step 2 – Now go to Format menu and click on column width as shown in the below screenshot.

Once we click on the Column width we will get the below dialog box to increase the column width as shown below.

Step 3 – Now increase the column width by 15 so that the selected column width will get increased.

In the above screenshot we can see that column width has been increased, alternatively, we can adjust the column width by using the mouse where if we place the mouse cursor we will get the + plus mark sign near to the column.

Step 4 – Now click on the next option called “AutoFit Column width”. So that the selected column will get reset to their original size which is shown below.

Things to Remember 

• In excel we can delete and insert multiple rows and column.
• We can hide the specific row and columns using the hide option.
• Row and column cells can be protected by locking the specific cells.

Recommended Articles

This has been a guide to Rows and Column in Excel. Here we also discuss Rows and Column in Excel along with practical examples and downloadable excel template. You can also go through our other suggested articles –

1. Switch Columns to Rows | Guidelines
2. How to Compare Two Columns in Excel
3. Learn to Unhide Columns in Excel
4. How to Sort Columns in Excel