Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 7, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365
When Col inserts cells into a worksheet (not rows, but cells), the process seems to take longer than it should because he always has to check to see if Excel will shift the displaced cells down or to the right. He always wants the cells to be shifted downward, so he is wondering if there is a way to make "shift down" the default.
As Col implied, when you choose some cells and the use the Insert Cells command, Excel displays a dialog box where you can indicate how you want the displaced cells shifted. This process can, indeed, seem to take quite a while if all you ever want to do is shift down when you insert. Unfortunately, there is no way to change the default in Excel.
The solution is to use a macro to do your inserting. It doesn't need to be a long one; for instance, the following will shift cells down when inserting:
Sub ShiftDown()
Selection.Insert Shift:=xlDown
End Sub
Assign the macro to the Quick Access Toolbar or to a shortcut key, and you can easily shift cells down as you insert. All you need to do is to select the cells (or, indeed, entire rows) and then use the macro. If you want to create variations of the macro that always shift in different directions, all you need to do is change xlDown to xlUp, xlLeft, or xlRight.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (4078) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365.
Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2019 For Dummies today!
Need to get rid of everything in a worksheet except for your formulas? You can do it rather easily by applying the ideas ...
Discover MoreWant to use the maximum space possible for displaying information on screen? You'll want to learn how to use the ...
Discover MoreUsing your mouse to select cells for inclusion in a formula can be an exercise in futility on some systems. Here's why ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2022-06-01 00:43:58
Peter
Insert Copied Cells has the same problem.
Of interest, is that once the cells are copied and the target selected, you can use the suggested macro and the cells are pasted without an explicit step.
John Fong, I also lament the passing of the predictive capability because I nearly always want to insert cells & shift down
2022-05-31 15:05:27
J. Woolley
The description of this Tip's macro is not quite correct. The Range object's Insert method has a Shift parameter as indicated, but the only acceptable values for Shift are xlShiftDown (-4121, same as xlDown) or xlShiftToRight (-4161, same as xlToRight). The Tip suggests using xlUp, xlLeft, or xlRight, but each will result in an error.
2022-05-30 14:11:22
John Fong
Thank you for this helpful tip.
The older versions of Excel had a smart feature that predicted whether I wanted to shift cells down or right. For example, if I selected a range 4 columns wide and 1 row deep, it predicted I wanted to shift cells down and have that option preselected. If my selection was 4 rows deep and 1 column wide, it would preselect shift cells right. It seems Excel 365 has gotten dumber because it preselects shift cells right all the time? And there is no way to change that?
Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments