How To Select A Data Range In Google Sheets

In this tutorial, you will learn how to select a data range in google sheets.

When working with large datasets in Google Sheets, it can be challenging to manually select an entire data range. Fortunately, Google Sheets comes with a number of handy keyboard shortcuts that allow users to easily select an entire row of data, an entire column of data, or an entire data range. This makes it easy to select ranges in order to sort, remove duplicates, format cells, or generate charts and can save a lot of time.

Select a Data Row, Column or Range

Step 1

Select a cell in the middle of the row, column, or range you want to select

Step 2

To select a data row, hit SHIFT + SPACE on Windows or Mac

Step 3

To select a data column, hit CTRL + SPACE on Windows or Mac

Step 4

To select the entire data range including all rows and columns, hit CTRL + SHIFT + SPACE on Windows or CMD + SHIFT + SPACE on Mac

Step 5

Note that the same process works if the initially selected cell is adjacent to the data range, however if the cell is blank and not adjacent to a data range, the entire row/column/sheet will be selected, not only the date range

Step 6

Note also that you can select multiple data rows or data columns by selecting more than one cell in Step 1. For example, if the range B3:B8 is selected, the data rows 3 through 8 will be selected after hitting SHIFT + SPACE

Summary

Example Spreadsheet: Make a copy of the example spreadsheet

In this tutorial, I covered how to select a data range in google sheets. Want more? Check out all the Google Sheets Tutorials.