So you’re chugging along, filling in your Excel spreadsheet. All of a sudden you realize that you missed a few valuable lines of your data. Now you either have to go back and erase a lot of data or insert a bunch of new rows. The choice is obvious: Here’s how to insert multiple rows in Excel.

As with almost anything in Excel, there are a few ways to get the job done.

How to insert multiple rows in Excel

Following Occam’s Razor, the most obvious solution is usually correct. That means that the first option for inserting rows is the Insert tab. The steps are pretty straightforward:

1. Select the rows where you want blanks to appear. To do this, select the cells and press Shift+Space to highlight the entire rows. You can also select rows by clicking on the row numbers.

2. Go to the Home tab and select the Insert option. Now you can select the number of rows that you want to insert.

This is the easiest way to put new rows into your sheet, however, you can also get the same results with the right-click menu as well.

1. The first step is the same. Select your cells and then highlight the rows.

2. Now, right-click on the cells that you’ve selected and choose the Insert option. If you have any formatting in your cells, make sure to select Insert Options instead to keep the format consistent.

Both methods so far have been pretty quick and easy, but we can kick the speed up a notch using keyboard shortcuts. Sure, you’ll save maybe one extra second, but you’ll look like an Excel pro.

1. The first step is exactly the same, select your rows using whichever method you please.

2.  Press Alt+I and then while holding the Alt key, press R.

And there you go, three of the easiest ways to insert multiple rows in Excel. Now you can add your missed data in a hurry and save a few minutes at work for a coffee break.

See also: How to make a pie chart in Excel

What else can I do in Excel?

You’ve probably guessed by now that you can do a whole bunch of things in Excel with just a little bit of training. It doesn’t even matter if you’re running Excel 365 or a version from years ago. A little bit of training goes a long way in introducing you to VBA and Pivot Tables.

We’re highlighting a beginner-friendly learning kit on Tech Deals that can bring you all the skills you need. It’s called the Microsoft Excel Bootcamp Bundle and it packs five hands-on modules to get you started. You can work through the basics like data, graphs, and formatting and then move on to more advanced skills.

The five courses add up to nearly 80 hours of training, and they’re worth a combined $1,700. However, you can grab them all for just $39 right now. Over 7,000 people have already signed up to sharpen their skills, so it’s the perfect time to join them.

Was this page helpful?