How to shift cells right in Excel
You can watch a video tutorial here.
Excel is a popular spreadsheet application in which the workspace is arranged as rows and columns in the form of a grid. Each intersection of a row and column is called a cell. When working with Excel, you may need to shift cells to the right, without disturbing the data. data down. For example, you may need to insert a new row header into a table in which case some data will have to be shifted to the right.
Option 1 – Use the context menu
Step 1 – Select the cells
![](https://spreadcheaters.com/wp-content/uploads/Option-1-Step-1-–-How-to-shift-cells-right-in-Excel-1024x515.png)
- Select the cells to be shifted
Step 2 – Open the Insert box
![](https://spreadcheaters.com/wp-content/uploads/Option-1-Step-2-–-How-to-shift-cells-right-in-Excel-1024x720.png)
- Right-click to display the context menu
- Select Insert
Step 3 – Choose the shift option
![](https://spreadcheaters.com/wp-content/uploads/Option-1-Step-3-–-How-to-shift-cells-right-in-Excel-1024x726.png)
- Select Shift cells right
- Click OK
Step 4 – View the result
![](https://spreadcheaters.com/wp-content/uploads/Option-1-Step-4-–-How-to-shift-cells-right-in-Excel-1024x437.png)
- The cells have been shifted to the right
- The data next to the cells is also shifted
- Blank cells appear in place of the shifted cells
Option 2 – Drag and drop
Step 1 – Select the cells
![](https://spreadcheaters.com/wp-content/uploads/Option-2-Step-1-–-How-to-shift-cells-right-in-Excel-1024x474.png)
- Select all the cells to be shifted
- Position the pointer at the border of the selected area
Step 2 – Drag and drop
![](https://spreadcheaters.com/wp-content/uploads/Option-2-Step-2-–-How-to-shift-cells-right-in-Excel-1024x429.png)
- When the cursor changes to a move pointer, click the left mouse button
- Holding down the button, drag the area down
- Release the mouse button when the cells are in the new location
Option 3 – Cut & paste
Step 1 – Select the cells
![](https://spreadcheaters.com/wp-content/uploads/Option-3-Step-1-–-How-to-shift-cells-right-in-Excel.png)
- Select all the cells to be shifted
Step 2 – Cut the cells
![](https://spreadcheaters.com/wp-content/uploads/Option-3-Step-2-–-How-to-shift-cells-right-in-Excel-1024x673.png)
- Right-click to display the context menu and select Cut
OR
Press Ctrl+X
Step 3 – Paste at the new location
![](https://spreadcheaters.com/wp-content/uploads/Option-3-Step-3-–-How-to-shift-cells-right-in-Excel-1024x679.png)
- Position the cursor at the new location
- Right-click to display the context menu
- Select Paste
OR
Press Ctrl+V
Step 4 – View the result
![](https://spreadcheaters.com/wp-content/uploads/Option-3-Step-4-–-How-to-shift-cells-right-in-Excel.png)
- The selected cells are moved to the right