Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Moving Cells Using the Mouse.
As you edit your worksheet, you can use the mouse to move cells from one location to another. You do this by following these steps:
If there is anything already at the target location, Excel may ask you if you want to overwrite the existing cells. You can respond according to your desires.
If you cannot seem to edit this way, or if no heavy border (step 2) appears around your selected range, then drag-and-drop editing is probably turned off on your system. To check this, follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Advanced option of the Excel Options dialog box.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (12351) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Moving Cells Using the Mouse.
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2026-06-19 04:41:24
Kiwerry
A small addition to Willy's comment about using the Ctrl Key to copy instead of moving:
in my environment (365 on Win 10), if you copy a range as described, anything in the destination range is overwritten without warning, despite the appropriate box described by Allen being checked; on my machine a mouse Move generates a warning, a mouse Copy doesn't.
Using Shift-Ctrl on a whole row or column instead of just Ctrl allows you to insert a copy of a row (or column) between two existing rows (or columns).
2022-07-07 08:47:52
Michael
Willy,
Can that be done even if Enable fill and drag and drop is disabled?
Because I never use move cells feature but it sometimes gets activated when I grab call corner, or thereabouts, to pull down and copy formulas.
Michael
2022-05-14 05:45:29
Willy Vanhaelen
If you want to copy the range instead of moving it:
- in step 2. press and hold down the Ctrl key.
- The four-headed arrow changes in a + sign
- proceed with steps 3. and 4.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: 
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