Comments on: How to swap columns by dragging and other ways to move columns in Excel

In this article you will learn a few methods to move columns in Excel tables. You will see how to drag columns with a mouse and how to swap several non-contiguous columns. The latter is often considered unfeasible, but I'll show you a tool that allows moving even non-adjacent columns in Excel 2016, 2013, 2010 and lower. Continue reading →

Comments page 2. Total comments: 60

  1. Thank you very much, that exactly what I was looking for.

  2. Hello,

    I was wondering if it were possible to drag and drop to the right instead of dropping down. I have a data table that follows columns on one sheet and a data table that follows rows on another sheet. I want to have the data from the column table appear on the rows table. I have been manually pressing = for each cell to connect to the reference cell. Once I had a few cells filled in, I tried to drag to the right in the hopes that it would follow the reference cells down the column on the other sheet, but no go... If you have any suggestions I would appreciate it. :)

  3. Hi, I want a corresponding column which follows after another to be arranged in the order of the previous column when I change it to 'Smallest to Largest' if that makes sense?

    Any help appreciated cheers

  4. This is such a great help!

  5. In a typical table is there another option to hide/unhide columns?

    For example, can I define a view with columns I want shown, name the view(s), then select views I have defined?

    Would be easier when you have multiple views; just click the "view name" and there you have it. rjm

  6. Cool, but is it possible to save the column shift routine to redo the same process every now on then on similar workbooks without having to manually move all the columns?

  7. While performing the function, a dialogue box appears saying:
    Do you want to replace the contents of the destination cells?

    Could you help me in this regard?

    1. Hello Nimish,

      This may happen if you hold down CTRL when pointing to the border of the column. Dragging the column while holding the CTRL key copies the selected column(s) to another location. To move the column, be sure to hold SHIFT while dragging the column.

  8. Thanks for useful information.

    Thanks

  9. Very helpful, Thank you!

  10. Hi,
    How about moving columns in groups (column wise) or next to a particular column using formula? Can it be done that way?
    Thank you so much in advance.

  11. Oh, thank you! That worked perfectly.

  12. Thanks a lot drag & drop works nicely for me :)

  13. Thank you so much. I should have checked here first. Your advice is clear and simple. Exactly as it should be. I appreciate your work!

  14. Thanks for your guideline

  15. I really appreciate your work! Actually, I'm a visually impaired person and I regularly use Computer in all my professional as well as in personal tasks. I thank you for providing the shortcut keys for keyboard users like me to perform swap columns commands in excel with keyboard.

  16. Thanks for your help!

  17. Thanks for drag and drop.
    Works with finite columns and finite rows but not for entire selection.

  18. Doesn't work in a table. Convert it to a range first.

    1. >> Doesn't work in a table. Convert it to a range first.
      I found that limitation too. But, if there is no other content above or below the table, you can just select and manipulate the ENTIRE COLUMN (not just the segment that lies within the Table).

  19. Thanks so much -- exactly what I needed, and very simple, too!

  20. I would like column arranged according to the values of another column in exel sheet

    1. Hello,

      Could you please describe your task in more detail? If possible, send a sample spreadsheet with the data and the expected results to support@ablebits.com. Please include a link to this blog post and your comment number.

  21. I want to no how can we move only selection row...?

    1. Hello Abdul,

      You can move the selection or the selected row the same way: point to the border of the selection until it looks like a 4-sided arrow, and drag it to the necessary place in your worksheet.

  22. Thanks a lot the drag and drop helped.

  23. Thanks so much!

  24. Thanks so much for the help.

  25. Thnxx... Help me a lot..!!!

  26. thank you so much! this will save me a lot of time!

  27. The Drag & Drop solution is detailed good to quickly catch up.

    THanks
    SS JEYakumar

  28. Thanks a lot! Drag-and-drop worked.

  29. how to get next column values from another sheet while drag?

  30. Thanks, very helpful! :)

  31. very much useful data. Thanks a lot

  32. Mega fail. Just use a SHIFT key while dragging a fully selected column(s).

    1. Hi Olin,

      Dragging a selected column(s) with the SHIFT key is one of the options, maybe the fastest one. The aim of this article was to cover _all_ possible ways.

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