Editing · original practice scenario
Insert complete worksheet columns
You need a blank column before the current column C.
Start here: Whole worksheet columns selected through their headers
Selecting only a few cells can open an insertion dialog or shift only those cells. Work on a copy when changing a real report.
Follow these instructions in your own desktop Excel workbook. This page explains the operation; it does not send commands to Excel.
Windows keys and context
This combines whole-row or whole-column selection with the documented Insert cells command. On a US Windows keyboard, the plus key also requires Shift.
Ctrl+Shift++
Windows / Insert cells; Mac / Insert cells; whole-row or whole-column preselection. Microsoft reference ↗
Walk through the operation
- Click the column C header to select it completely.
- Use the listed insertion combination.
Instruction 1 of 2: Click the column C header to select it completely.
Expected result: A blank worksheet column appears before the old column C.
Recall the keys
Which listed Windows combination or sequence starts this operation in the context above?
Related walkthroughs
- Abandon the current edit
- Select one character right while editing
- Select one character left while editing
- Insert complete worksheet rows
Catalog updated 2026-10-18. US keyboard notation: + joins held keys; commas separate successive presses. Function keys may require Fn. Desktop instructions are separate from this browser's own keyboard shortcuts.