How to move data in Excel

In this lesson, we'll look at how to move data from one place to another in Excel. The most common way to move information is to use cut and paste. We'll cover three options: using buttons on the ribbon, using keyboard shortcuts, and using the right-click menu.

Let's take a look.

The most basic way to move content in Excel is to select one or more cells, then click the "cut" button on the ribbon, move to another location, and click the "paste" button on the ribbon.

When you cut content, notice that Excel doesn't immediately remove the content.  Instead, the cut data is highlighted by a moving dashed line—sometimes called "marching ants." This indicates that the cut information is on the clipboard and ready to move to a new location.

If you decide you don't want to move the data after all, just press the escape key and the marching ants will disappear.

In addition to the buttons on the ribbon, you can use the keyboard shortcuts for cut and paste. Control-x to cut; control-v to paste.

You can also right-mouse click to cut and paste.

Finally, you can move entire rows and columns using cut and paste. Just make sure to select the column letter or the row number to get a complete selection.

Because columns and rows are very big objects, be sure you don't accidentally overwrite important information elsewhere on the worksheet.