Viewing and Moving Selected Cells in Excel: Next and Previous Rows

Viewing and Moving Selected Cells in Excel: Next and Previous Rows

Excel offers various ways to navigate through your worksheet and manipulate selected cells. One common operation is moving the selection to the next or previous row. In this article, we will cover how to view and move selected cells in Excel, focusing on next and previous rows.

Selecting Cells

Before diving into moving cells, let's discuss how to select cells in Excel. You can select a single cell by clicking on it. To select multiple cells, click and drag your mouse over the desired range. To select an entire column or row, click the column or row header.

Viewing Selected Cells

Once you have selected cells, you can view them in different ways. The most common view is the Normal view, which displays the entire worksheet with rows and columns. You can also switch to other views like Page Layout view, which is useful for printing, or the Formula Bar view, which shows the formula of the selected cell.

Moving Selected Cells: Next and Previous Rows

To move the selection to the next or previous row, use the arrow keys on your keyboard. Pressing the Down Arrow key moves the selection to the next row, while the Up Arrow key moves it to the previous row. If you want to move multiple cells, make sure they are contiguous before pressing the arrow keys.

Viewing Cell Selection in Other Cells

When moving cells, it's essential to know that only the cell reference changes when you move the selection. The data within the cells remains the same. To view the data in the cells that correspond to the new location, you can use the Go To Special feature. Press Ctrl + G, and in the Go To Special dialog box, select "Current Cell" under the "Go To" tab. Then, select "Entire row" or "Entire column" under the "Go To" tab, depending on which direction you moved the cells. Click "OK" to go to the corresponding row or column and view the data.

Examples

Let's consider an example to better understand moving selected cells and viewing their corresponding data. Suppose you have the following data in cells A1 to D5:

 
 A1: Apple   B1: 10    C1: $5.99  D1: =B1*C1
 A2: Banana  B2: 15    C2: $3.49  D2: =B2*C2
 A3: Orange  B3: 8     C3: $2.99  D3: =B3*C3
 A4: Grapes  B4: 20    C4: $1.50  D4: =B4*C4
 A5: Total   B5: =SUM(B1:B4) C5: =B5
 
 

Now, let's move cell D1 to the next row, which is currently empty (cell D6).

1. Select cell D1.
2. Press the Down Arrow key to move the selection to cell D2.
3. Now, cell D1 is empty, and cell D2 contains the formula from D1.

To view the data in the cell that corresponds to the new location of D1 (now D2), follow these steps:

4. Press Ctrl + G to open the Go To Special dialog box.
5. Select "Current Cell" under the "Go To" tab.
6. Select "Entire row" under the "Go To" tab and click "OK".

This will take you to row 2, where the data for the original cell D1 is located.