Delete one or more rows, columns, or cells in Excel for Mac

Question

Used Excel for years. Up until 2? weeks ago there was a DELETE command under Edit at the top of screen control bar.

Now that is gone(?)/ can't find it.

Worked great to tighten up spreadsheets that had been modified.

How do I now delete one of more rows, columns or cells

Running Excel for Mac v.16.29.1

Please advise.

thank you

Answer 1

Hi Kdunc333,

Thanks for posting in our forum.

To delete rows, column, please follow the steps below:

1. Select the heading of the row a or column which you wish to delete,
2. Hold down CONTROL, click the selected rows, and then on the pop-up menu, click Delete.

When you delete cells, you can choose whether to shift other cells down or to the right to accommodate the cells. To delete cells, follow the steps 1 & 2 mentioned above. once you click Delete, a menu appears asking whether to shift the other cells left or right etc.

Here’s a small GIF for your reference.

Additionally, you mentioned, up until 2 weeks ago, there was a Delete command in Edit menu bar, and the command is gone now. May I know the version information in which you saw this command?

Thanks,

Neha

Answer 2

I've seen this also... The Delete command in the Edit menu seems to be somewhat transient but I haven't determined what causes it.

Restarting the program seems to restore it.

BTW: IMO Neha makes it sound more complicated than it is. Just select the cell or range then right-click within the selection & choose the Delete command... The only difference between that & what you described is that you're using the contextual menu rather than the main menu bar, which to me seems more convenient/efficient.

Answer 3

Hello Neha

Thank you for your prompt response.

The method you described works.

It is more complicated than previously. 

I used to simply highlight multiple cells in adjacent rows and hit delete. A pop-up box would ask shift up, down or...?  I'd select shift up and all was done.

Since I normally work on single column sheets, this will work , it's simply a new way to get there.

Regarding what version I was using previously. I have an Office 365 subscription with auto-updates. Currently showing 16.29.1v for Mac.

This control change just "appeared" recently so I can only tell you it happened as part of an auto-update. I would assume whichever version was prior to 16.29.1 was what I was using.

Thank you Neha for a working solution quickly.

Be Great,

Keith