How to move columns in Microsoft Excel to organize your spreadsheet data

You can easily move a column into another column, regardless of whether or not the other column has data. You can also move a column so it inserts into another location in the sheet alongside other columns.
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With Excel , you can quickly and easily move, organize, and manipulate data in individual cells and columns. If you wish to reorder the representation of data by moving a column, there are two main ways to do it.

The first is to move the column to replace another column, which is ideal for moving a string of data into an empty area and expanding your sheet. The other main way to move a column is to actually just slide it over in between two existing data columns.

Note that for all of these, you can move more than one column at a time by holding down the shift key on your Mac or PC while clicking multiple columns.

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How to move columns in Excel to replace another column

1. Select a whole column by clicking on the heading of the column so it shows an arrow pointing down into the data cells.

2. Move your cursor to the line between the heading and the data so that it turns into the move cursor, which is a four-pointed arrow.

3. When you see the move cursor, click to grab the column and drag it to move it elsewhere.

4. If there is already data in the destination column, a pop-up will ask if you want to replace the data.

How to move columns in Excel Ryan Ariano/Business Insider

5. If you move the column to an empty space, it will move its formatting as well, leaving its former column empty and reset to default settings.

How to move columns in Excel Ryan Ariano/Business Insider

How to move a column in Excel to slide between existing columns

1. Highlight a column by clicking on the heading of the column so that it shows an arrow pointing down.

2. Move your cursor to the line between the heading and the data so it becomes the move cursor, which is a four-pointed arrow.

3. Hold down the shift key on your keyboard. While holding shift, click on the column you want to move.

4. Drag the column to where you want.

5. If you're doing this correctly, you should see two copies of the name of the column you're trying to insert separated by a colon. For example, if successfully trying to move and insert the new column next to column D, you will see "D:D".