How to Insert Multiple Rows in Microsoft Excel?

Microsoft Excel is a useful program to many, and inserting rows in Microsoft Excel is one of the program’s basic features. There are several ways to do it....

Sagar Choudhury

Last updated on September 4, 2023

Sagar Choudhury

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A techno freak who loves new gadgets and always keen to know about the latest games and everything happening in and around the technology world. He has a massive interest in Android and streaming devices.

Microsoft Excel is a useful program to many, and inserting rows in Microsoft Excel is one of the program’s basic features. There are several ways to do it. Anyone new to working with Excel should definitely know how to do this, and this article is a guide for such a person.

In this article, we will discuss all the different ways to insert rows in Excel. Inserting rows in Excel depends on what the user wants. Whether the user wants to insert a single row, multiple rows, or multiple rows that are not together, one can do it all using one of the methods mentioned below. Using any one of the methods is enough to insert a row. But just for convenience, we have included all the possible methods. So without any further ado, let’s get into it.

How to insert rows in Microsoft Excel?

Here, we have included five ways to insert rows in Excel.

Using the Keyboard Shortcut:

Select the data cell above which you want to insert the required number of rows.
Press the Shift + Space Bar to select the entire row. You can also select the entire row by clicking on the row number in the extreme left of the sheet.
Now select as many rows as you want to insert by pressing the Shift + Down Arrow key. For example, if you want to insert three new then select three rows using the keyboard shortcut.
Once the required number of rows are selected, press the Ctrl + Plus key(+) on your Numpad if you don’t have a Numpad, press Ctrl + Shift + Plus key(+) on a regular keyboard.
Depending on the number of rows selected, new rows will be added. For example, if you selected three rows, then three new empty rows will be added on top of those selected rows.
You can repeat this process of inserting rows again by simply pressing F4. The F4 function repeats the previous action in Excel.

ALT + H + I + R is another shortcut key for inserting a new row in Excel. You need to select the cell first where you want to add a new row and then use this shortcut to perform the action.

Using insert option:

Select the row/rows using the mouse above which you want to insert new rows. If you want to insert multiple rows, then select multiple rows. Make sure that you select the entire rows and not just a single cell.
Right-click on the selection and choose “Insert” from the list of options that show up. This will instantly add the required number of rows in the selected space.

Using the Name Box:

This method comes in handy when you need to insert a huge number of rows. Something like 200 or 300 rows. Using this name box method, you can insert several rows with just a simple key press.

Select the cell above which we need to insert the rows.
In the name box in the top left corner, change the value according to your requirement. If you want to insert 200 rows above row number 5, set the Name Box value as 5:205. This will select all the cells from 5 to 205.
Now press the Ctrl + Plus key(+) on your Numpad. If you don’t have a Numpad, press Ctrl + Shift + Plus key(+) on a regular keyboard. This will insert 200 rows in the selected space above row number 5 instantly.

Using the Copy-Paste method:

Click on any blank row and select it.
Right-click on the selected row and choose Copy.
Now click on the cell above which you want to insert a new row. Then select the number of rows depending on how many rows you want to insert into the required space.
Right-click on the selection and select “Insert Copied Cells.”

Using Mouse + Keyboard Shortcut:

This is a neat trick that most people are unaware of. You can use this method to insert any number of rows in any location.

Select the row above or below which you want to insert new rows.
You will notice a small green dot at the right bottom of the row number.
Move your mouse cursor over that green dot and press Ctrl + Shift on your keyboard. You will notice that the mouse cursor will change from a plus to a double line icon with arrows on both sides.
Now click your left mouse button and drag your selection up or down. If you drag it down by three rows, three new rows will be added instantly. Similarly, if you drag it up, new rows will be created above the row that you have selected.

This is one of the quickest ways to insert multiple rows together in Excel.