How to Insert Multiple Rows in Excel
(and Single Rows too!)

🖋️ By Kasper Langmann, Certified Microsoft Office Specialist. 📅 Updated on August 29, 2023.

Inserting rows in your worksheet is one of the most basic and repetitive things you do in Excel. Need to insert a blank row? Sure! That’s easy!

But what if you need to add tens or hundreds of rows to your worksheet? 😱

Forget having to insert one row at a time when you can insert multiple rows all at once😎

In this article, you will learn different ways how to insert multiple rows in Excel. These are quick and easy ways to insert rows in your worksheet so that you can insert more data, format your tables, and more.

Let’s go! 😊

You can download our free practice workbook to work on the steps as you tag along.

How to add multiple rows in Excel at once

There are four different ways to add multiple rows in Excel at once. All of them are easy to do!

One way to insert multiple rows in Excel is to use the Standard Menu option. You’re going to use the Insert Feature in the Excel Ribbon to insert multiple rows. Here’s how👇

First, you need to select WHERE you would like to insert the rows and HOW MANY.

The number of rows selected will also be the number of blank rows inserted in the worksheet. When you select three rows in the sheet, three new blank rows will be inserted above the selected rows.

You can select rows in two ways:

• Select the cells within the rows you would like to insert the rows and press “Shift” + “Space” to select the entire rows where the cells are located
• Directly select the entire rows by clicking their respective column numbers

1. Select the entire rows in any of the two ways mentioned above.
2. Click Home Tab.
3. In the “Cells” group, click “Insert“.

And voila, you’ll immediately see new rows inserted in your worksheet. There are three new rows inserted above the three rows you selected earlier.

Do you need to add 5 or 10 or 50 new rows? No problem😎

You can easily insert multiple blank rows using the Standard menu option.

There is another way to insert multiple rows at once. I bet this one is a quicker way to do that with only two clicks on your mouse🖱️

Insert multiple rows using the Right-click Menu option.

You can insert multiple rows just like what we did above using the right-click menu option. Here’s how👇

1. Select the entire rows.
2. Right-click and select “Insert“

Two clicks and you’re done!

Insert multiple rows without even clicking the Home Tab ribbon and other buttons. It’s quick and easy!

You can now add relevant data needed in your worksheet in the newly inserted rows😊

Access Keys Shortcut

While the abovementioned ways of inserting multiple rows are already quick and easy, there is another way (or more like a shortcut) ⚡ you can use to insert multiple rows in excel. It’s Access Key Combinations.

Access Key Combinations aka Access Keys in Microsoft Excel allows you to make shortcuts for the Ribbon options.

You can combine the Alt key and Key Tips letters to perform specific Excel tasks and functions quicker and easier, all within the tips of your fingers🖐️

Here’s how to insert multiple rows in excel using the Access Key Combination👇

1. Select the entire rows.
2. Hold down the Alt key and press I then R on your keyboard.

“Alt” + “I” + “R“

Alt + I is the access key combination for Insert.

Alt + I + R is the access key combination to insert row or rows.

You can insert multiple rows by just pressing keys on your keyboard. Awesome, right? 🙌

Keyboard Shortcut

There is one more shortcut you need to know to quickly insert multiple rows in Excel. This is by far our favorite way to insert multiple rows and it will be your favorite too😊

Insert multiple rows using this keyboard shortcut: “Ctrl” + “Shift” + “+”

Let’s try it👇

1. Select the entire rows.
2. Press “Ctrl” + “Shift” and “+” keys together. Make sure to hold the keys down, not press them one by one.

This keyboard shortcut is a real winner🏆

Inserting multiple rows has never been this quick and easy!

How to add a single extra row in Excel

You just learned how to insert multiple rows in Excel. Adding a single extra row in Excel would be super easy👌

To add a new row, follow the same steps as in the above example.

1. Make sure to select the entire row number, then insert it.
2. You can insert a single blank row by:

• • Using the Standard Menu option
  • Using the Right-click Menu option
  • Using the Access Key Combination (“Alt” + “I” + “R”)
  • Using the Keyboard Shortcut (“Ctrl” + “Shift” + “+”)

Any of the methods will yield the same result. You get an extra blank row for you to use.

Which of the methods of inserting multiple rows did you use? 😊

How to delete rows in Excel

Whether you want to delete a single row or multiple rows in your worksheet, it’s easy as adding them. Follow these steps:

1. Select the entire rows you want to delete.
2. Right-click and select “Delete“.

Easy right?

Feel free to read our step-by-step guide on how to delete blank rows in Excel here.

That’s it – Now what?

Wow! You now know the 4 methods of how to insert multiple rows in excel. 🥳

It may be one of the most basic Excel tasks but when you insert multiple rows using the keyboard shortcut, you will feel like an Excel PRO😎

Insert multiple rows all at once to add relevant data to the existing rows in your worksheets. It will help you save so much time and effort.

But there is so much more Excel can help you. Microsoft Excel has built-in functions that will help you perform mathematical, statistical, and logical operations you need in real life. Functions like SUM, AVERAGE, and COUNT functions🚀

Join my free online 30-minute email course to learn basic functions you can use in real life📩

Other resources

Want to learn about inserting columns in your worksheets instead? Read about how to insert single and multiple columns here.

If you like the keyboard shortcut to insert multiple rows in Excel, then you will surely like this article from us: The Best 11 Excel Shortcuts You’ll Ever Need (With Examples).

Happy reading (and learning)👋

Frequently asked questions