How do I insert copied cells in Excel?

I'm trying to copy a block of cells, but instead of shifting down the rest of the rows, it overwrites them

How do we copy and paste a set of cells and shift the rest so nothing is lost?

asked Sep 27, 2013 at 13:12

Instead of clicking "Paste", right-click or Ctrl click and select "Insert Copied Cells" or "Insert...", depending on your version of Excel.

This will give you an option to shift cells right or down.

If you cut cells, the context menu will have the option to "Insert Cut Cells" instead. Microsoft has a support article that describes these steps and other copy/paste options.

In the Mac Version it's:

answered Sep 27, 2013 at 13:21

John BensinJohn Bensin

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So, this option works great, but only if you're working within the same workbook. I ended up here because the "Insert copied cells" option does not exist if you're trying to paste rows/cells from another workbook.

The simplest workaround I found was to copy the rows or cells you want from the one workbook, then paste them in a new blank sheet of the workbook you want to ultimately insert them into, the re-copy them from that new sheet, right-click the location you want to insert them on the worksheet, and the "Insert copied cells" option should now show up. Choose that, and you're done!

answered Apr 14, 2017 at 18:41

T SchulzkeT Schulzke

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I was also facing same problem; I came up with this solution: while doing copy and paste follow these steps:

1. Instead of selecting only particular bunch of cells, select whole rows before copying. This can be done by dragging the mouse in the left side number list.
2. You can go and paste it anywhere. And this time, you will be amazed that there's no overlap.

Toby Speight

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answered Feb 8, 2017 at 14:28

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To fulfill this step with a keyboard shortcut, check out this article.

There are two options that I am aware of and both (unfortunately) require two steps.

Option 1

1. With a single cell selected, hit Shift + Space to select the row.
2. Hit Control + Shift + + (Plus Sign) to insert a row above the current row.

Option 2

1. With a single cell selected, hit Control + Shift + + (Plus Sign) to insert a row.
2. Hit Enter to accept the default of Shift Cells Down.

If inserting many rows at once, I think the first option is the best since you can repeat the second step without having to re-select the row.

This inserts a new empty row. To copy the row, you just need to hit Ctrl+C between the steps one and two. This way the content gets automatically pasted after step two.

answered Jul 25, 2017 at 6:19

Sort them according to color or text and when they are one row, cut and paste it in desired location. Blanks can then be removed. This logic applies to major cases

answered Nov 20, 2017 at 13:27

Excel for Mac 2011:

(This is a bit of an aside -- for moving without overwriting, rather than copying). Use shift-drag, i.e.

• select the cells you want to move
• keeping the shift key pressed, drag the cells
• drop the cells where you want (and then release the shift key)

microsoft-excel-2011-for-mac

answered Jun 11, 2018 at 15:52