Tutorial – Moving cells or columns with the mouse

Move a cell with the mouse

You do not need to use the copy-paste technique to move a cell, content, or format.

Select the cell to be moved.
Place the cursor on one of the edges of the selection — it changes to a cross
Click and hold down the mouse button.
Move the cell to its new destination
Release the mouse button to confirm the move

With this technique:

You move the content and the format (font size, font color, background color, border)
But you don't keep the height and width of the source cell

To move several cells, the technique is the same

Select the cells you want to move
Place the cursor on one of the edges of the range of cells
Click and hold down the mouse button.
Move the range of cells to the destination location
Release the mouse button to confirm the move

Move a cell with a formula

What happens when you move a cell that contains a formula? Excel will automatically change the references to keep the correct result.

In our example, the formula uses the contents of cell E15.
After moving, the formula still points to the same cells 😀
This way, the calculation remains correct 👍

However, moving a cell doesn't extend the range of cells used in a formula. For example, after the move, the references do not become H9:H16.

Move a formula doesn't extend the range of cells

Worked example: moving a column that contains a formula

We move column G to J. How will the formula in J2 be written after the move?

Question move a column with function SUM

Just like with a single cell, the move only changes the column's position: Excel automatically updates the formula so it still points to exactly the same cells, without extending the range.

Swapping columns in Excel

This task is the most common, yet it remains the least known among all Excel manipulations.

😡 Here's what you really shouldn't do:

Select your column
Place your cursor on one of the edges; it will change into a cross shape.
Click the mouse button
Move the column to a different destination (indicated by the rectangular selection).
Release the mouse button

When using this method, Excel will prompt to confirm whether to overwrite the data in the target column. Naturally, you would decline.

Move column to another destination replace contain

To swap a column, repeat the same steps while pressing the Shift key.

Select your column
Place your cursor on one of the edges
Click the mouse button
Then, press the Shift key
Move the column to a different location (the relocated column is now indicated by a line).
Release the mouse button

The 'City' column has been interchanged with the 'Surname' and 'StreetAddress' columns.

Duplicating a column

The last point in this module is how to duplicate a column. Of course, you can use the copy-paste technique to duplicate a column.

Select the column you want to duplicate
Copy your data using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + C
To duplicate a column, select the destination column
Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + V to paste the contents.

But there's a faster way. We'll reuse the same drag technique, but hold Ctrl to duplicate the column instead.

Select the column you want to duplicate
Position the cursor on one of the edges (the cursor becomes a cross with 4 arrows)
Click the mouse button
Press the Ctrl key
Move your mouse to the position where you want to duplicate your column

Worked example: duplicating a column into a precise position

You want to duplicate the StreetAddress column (Column F) and insert it between columns B and C.

How do you copy and insert a column between two columns using the mouse?

The trick is the same Ctrl-drag you just saw: select column F, grab one of its edges until the cursor becomes a cross with four arrows, hold down Ctrl, and drop the duplicate right on the line between columns B and C.

Continue learning

Keep building your Excel skills with the rest of this tutorial series: