Columns represent one of the basic units of any table in Google Sheets. That's why it's very important to know all the possible ways of manipulating them in your spreadsheet.
Before doing anything at all with a column, you need to select it. Click its heading (a gray block with a letter), and the entire column will be selected automatically while the cursor will be put into its first cell:
You can select multiple adjacent columns using the same method. Click the heading of the first column and drag the mouse over other column letters:
Now that the column is ready, let's start working with it.
The easiest thing you can do with a column is delete it and add a new one. There are three easy ways of doing that in a spreadsheet.
In case you selected a few columns, the option will be called Delete columns A - D.
As you could notice in the screenshots above, the drop-down menu allows not only to delete columns in Google Sheets but insert empty ones to the right or to the left of the selected column.
Place the cursor into any cell of the needed column and go to Edit > Delete column:
To add a column in Google Sheets to the left, choose Insert > Column left, to add it to the right - Insert > Column right:
Highlight the columns while holding Ctrl pressed, then right-click any of them, and choose to Delete selected columns from the context menu:
So, you've added a column (or a few) to your Google Sheets, deleted one or more here and there. What's next?
When you enter data to a spreadsheet cell, you need to make sure the column is wide enough to show the values. And you will, most likely, have to widen or narrow it.
Now you know the fundamentals of working with columns. If you know any other tricks, please share with us in comments below! Next time we'll discuss how to move, merge, hide and freeze the columns in Google Sheets.
7 responses to "Columns in Google Sheets - add, delete, and resize columns in a spreadsheet"
Hello,
I am wondering if you might know if there is a way to resize multiple columns in Google Sheets for iPad?
Thank you in advance.
Hello Tania,
Do the following:
Hi Natalia
Thank you so much! It seems that fat fingertips was my issue😉 I was dreading having to do this for 165 individual columns!
Cheers!
Is there a formula to resize a cell based on a value found from another cell? I’d like to have a cell size increase that has an image in it based on a value from another cells formula.
Hello!
Unfortunately, it is not possible to change the width of a cell using conditional formatting.
How do I Resize Column A to 12?
Hello Leah,
To resize the column, just follow these steps.