Select a cell and its contents in an Excel worksheet

On a worksheet worksheet: The primary document that you use to store and work with data in Excel. Also known as spreadsheets. Worksheets are made up of cells that arrange rows or columns. The worksheet is always stored in the workbook. , you can select cells, ranges range: two or more cells on a worksheet. Cells in a range can be contiguous or nonadjacent. ), row, or column. You can also make the cell in edit mode and select All or part of the cell.

You can select cells and ranges in a Microsoft Office Excel table Just as you would select them on a worksheet, but the rows and columns of the selection table are different from the rows and columns of the selected worksheet.

　　Note If the worksheet is protected, you may not be able to select a cell or its contents on the worksheet.

Select a cell, range, row, or column

Select	Operation
A cell	Click the cell or press the arrow keys to move to the cell.
Cell range	Click the first cell in the range, and then drag to the last cell, or hold down SHIFT while pressing the arrow keys to extend the selection. You can also select the first cell in the range, and then press F8 to extend the selection by using the arrow keys. To stop extending the selection, press F8 again.
Larger range of cells	Click the first cell in the range, and then hold down Shift while you click the last cell in the range. You can use the scrolling feature to display the last cell.
All cells in a worksheet	Click the Select All button. To select the entire worksheet, you can also press CTRL + A. Note If the worksheet contains data, press CTRL + A to select the current range. Press CTRL + A for one second to select the entire worksheet.
nonadjacent cells or ranges of cells	Select the first cell or range of cells, and then hold down CTRL while you select the other cells or ranges. You can also select the first cell or range of cells, and then press Shift+f8 to add another nonadjacent cell or range to the selected range. To stop adding cells or ranges to the selected range, press Shift+f8 again. Note You cannot deselect a cell or range of cells in nonadjacent selections without canceling the entire selection.
Whole row or whole column	Click the row or column heading. row header column heading You can also select a cell in a row or column by selecting the first cell, and then pressing the ctrl+shift+ arrow key (right ARROW or LEFT arrow for the row, or up ARROW or DOWN arrow for the column). Note If the row or column contains data, press the ctrl+shift+ arrow key to select the portion of the row or column before the last cell that has been used. Press the ctrl+shift+ arrow key for one second to select an entire row or column.
Adjacent rows or columns	Drag the mouse between the row or column headings. Either select the first row or column, and then hold down Shift while you select the last row or column.
nonadjacent rows or Columns	Click the row or column heading for the first row in the selection, and then hold down CTRL while you click the column headings for the row headings or other columns that you want to add to the other rows in the selected range.
The first or last cell in a row or column	Select a cell in the row or column, and then press CTRL + the ARROW keys (for rows, use the right arrow or left arrow; Use the UP or DOWN ARROW keys for columns).
The first or last cell in a worksheet or Microsoft Office Excel table	Press Ctrl+home to select the first cell in the worksheet or Excel list. Press Ctrl+end to select the last cell in the worksheet or Excel list that contains data or formatting.
Range of cells before the last cell in the worksheet (lower-right corner)	Select the first cell, and then press Ctrl+shift+end to extend the selected range to the most-used cell in the worksheet (lower-right corner).
Range of cells to the beginning of the worksheet	Select the first cell, and then press Ctrl+shift+home to extend the cell selection to the beginning of the worksheet.
Increase or decrease cells in the active selection	Hold down SHIFT while you click the last cell that you want to include in the new selection. The active cell (the active cell is the selected cell in which you can enter data.) You can have only one active cell at a time. The border around the active cell is bold. And the cells you click will become the new selected range.

　　tip to deselect a range of cells, click any cell in the worksheet.

　　Comments

· Excel marks a selected cell or range by highlighting a cell or range. These highlights do not appear in print output. If you want to display a highlighted cell in a printed worksheet, you can use the formatting feature to apply cell shading.

• Expands the selection when you click a cell or press the key to move. You may have pressed F8 or shift+f8 to extend or add to the selection, status bar (status bar: The horizontal bar at the bottom of the screen that displays information about the current state of the program, such as the status of the item in the window, the process of the current task, or information about the selected item. , "Extended Selection" or "Add to Selection" appears. To stop extending or adding to the selection, press F8 or Shift+f8 again.

Select the contents of a cell

Select cell contents	Operation
In the cell	Double-click the cell, and then drag to select the contents of the cell you want to select.
In the formula bar, the bar area at the top of the Excel window, for entering or editing values or formulas in a cell or chart. Constant values or formulas stored in the active cell are displayed in the formula bar. ) in	Click the cell, and then drag the mouse in the formula bar to select the contents of the cell you want to select.
Using the keyboard	Press F2 to edit the cell, use the arrow keys to locate the insertion point, and then press the shift+ arrow key to select the content.

Select rows and columns in an Excel table

table columns with or without headings	b class= "Cntnote" >  annotation      Clicking the top edge selects the table column data one time; Clicking the top edge two selects the entire table column. can also click anywhere in the table column, and then press CTRL + SPACEBAR, or click the first cell in the table column, and then press CTRL + DOWN ARROW.   annotation      Press CTRL + SPACEBAR to select table column data once; Press CTRL + SPACEBAR to select the entire table column twice.
table columns with worksheet headers	You can also click anywhere in the table column, and then press CTRL + SPACEBAR, or click the first cell in the table column, and then press CTRL + DOWN ARROW.
table row	> Click the left border of the table row 。 The following selected arrow appears, indicating that the row is selected by clicking. You can click the first cell in the table row, and then press CTRL + RIGHT ARROW.
all table rows and columns	click Table In the upper left corner. The following selected arrow appears, indicating that the entire table is selected by clicking.   annotation      Clicking the table's upper-left corner selects the table data one at a time, and clicking the top-left corner of the table selects the entire table two times. can also click anywhere in the table, press CTRL + A, or click the cell in the upper-left corner of the table, and then press Ctrl+shift+end.   comment      Press CTRL + A to select the table data once; Press CTRL + A two times to select the entire table.

Select all cells in a worksheet

To select all cells in a worksheet, do one of the following:

• Click the Select All button.

• Press CTRL + A.

　　Note If the worksheet contains data, and the active cell is above or to the right of the data, press CTRL + A to select the current area. Press CTRL + A again to select the entire worksheet.

　　Tip If you want to select the active range area: two or more cells on a worksheet. Cells in a range can be contiguous or nonadjacent. Press ctrl+shift+* for all cells in the.