How to randomize data in Excel

Shuffle cells in rows, columns, or in the selected range with the Shuffle Cells tool in a couple of clicks.

Before you start

We care about your data. We recommend keeping the Back up this worksheet option selected so that original table remains intact.

Please note, the tool won't process several ranges or non-adjacent cells - only one range of adjacent cells.

How to shuffle values in a range

Run Shuffle Cells from the Randomize tool, Utilities group on the Ablebits Tools tab in Excel:
Run the add-in by clicking on its icon on the Ablebits Tools tab.

Once the tool is running, you'll see the add-in pane:
Select the shuffling mode that suits you best.

  1. The add-in will select the entire data range automatically. You can change the reference directly in this box or select the cells, rows, or columns you'd like to shuffle in your Excel worksheet.
  2. If you changed the range, highlight the entire table back by clicking the Expand selection icon.
  3. Specify if the first row in your table is used for labelling columns by clicking My table has 1 header row. If you select this checkbox, the top row will remain intact.
    Tip. If there are more header rows in your table, click on 1 header row, enter the number of lines with labels, and they won't be randomized:
    How many header row does your data range have?
  4. Select one of the following shuffling modes:
    • Cells in each row - randomize cell values within each highlighted row.
    • Cells in each column - mix cell values within the selected columns.
    • Entire rows - randomize the whole rows in the selected range and keep data integrity.
    • Entire columns - mix the order of the columns in the range.
    • All cells in the range - randomize all cells in the selected range.
  5. Have the add-in Back up the worksheet. We recommend keeping this option checked since Excel doesn't let you cancel changes made by add-ins.

Click the Shuffle button, and your data will be randomized within the selected range.

Responses

Hi. I have a range of 1 to 15, and need to randomize a selection of 5 numbers in that range. I have tried all of the various functions in the randomizer, including the string, and cannot figure it. Is this possible? Please help!

Mark

Christopher spahn says:
October 11, 2019 at 5:01 pm

How is one able to randomise colums without , switching to .

The Data program which I use afterwards is not able to use commas as delimiters.

I appreciate any ideas ! Thank you

Hello Christopher,
Thank you for contacting us.

I'm sorry, but your task is not entirely clear. For us to be able to understand it better, please send us a small sample workbook with your source data and the result you expect to get to support@ablebits.com. Just about 10-20 rows will be enough.

We'll look into your task and see if our software can help.

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