Mastering basic Excel tasks like moving ranges, copying/pasting cells, and inserting rows or columns can significantly improve your efficiency when working with spreadsheets. Here’s a straightforward guide to help you perform these essential actions with ease.

How to Move a Range in Excel

Moving a range of cells allows you to reorganize your data quickly. Follow these steps:

1. Select the range of cells you want to move.
2. Hover over the border of the selection until the cursor changes to a four-sided arrow.
3. Click and drag the range to the desired location, then release the mouse button to drop it there.

How to Copy and Paste a Range

Copying and pasting helps you duplicate data without retyping. Here’s how:

1. Select the range you want to copy, right-click and choose Copy, or press CTRL + C.
2. Click on the cell where you want to paste the copied data, right-click and select Paste under the Paste Options, or press CTRL + V.

How to Insert Rows and Columns

Adding new rows or columns is helpful for expanding your data. To insert a row or column:

1. Select the row number (or column letter) where you want to insert a new row (or column).
2. Right-click and choose Insert. This will add a new blank row above the selected row, or a new column to the left of the selected column.

By mastering these basic Excel functions, you can organize and manage your spreadsheets more effectively, making data handling faster and simpler.