Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 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: Deleting Every X Rows.

Deleting Every X Rows

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 2, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365


3

When you import data from an outside source, you may run into a need to delete extraneous data from a worksheet. For instance, you may have a need to remove every second line from the data, or every fifth line. Doing this by hand can be tedious and prone to error. Fortunately, you can create a macro to help eliminate both the tedium and the errors.

The following macro, DeleteRows, will remove every X rows from your worksheet. All you have to do is select the rows you want it applied to. The macro, as written, will remove every second row. So, if you wanted to delete the first, third, fifth, and seventh rows beginning with row 10, you would select rows 10 through 16 and then run this macro. It results in rows 10 (the first row), 12 (the third row), 14 (the fifth row), and 16 (the seventh row) being deleted.

Sub DeleteRows()
    Dim iStart As Integer
    Dim iEnd As Integer
    Dim iCount As Integer
    Dim iStep As Integer
    Dim J As Integer

    iStep = 2    'Delete every 2nd row
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False
    iStart = 1
    iCount = Selection.Rows.Count
    'Find ending row to start deleting
    For J = iStart To iCount Step iStep
        iEnd = J
    Next

    Do While iEnd >= iStart
        Selection.Rows(iEnd).Delete
        iEnd = iEnd — iStep
    Loop
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

If you want to delete some other multiple of lines, simply change the setting for the iStep variable. For instance, if you want to delete every fifth row, change iStep from 2 to 5. (You only need to make the single change, in the iStep = 2 declaration.)

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3592) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Deleting Every X Rows.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Sorting Letters and Numbers

Sorting information in a worksheet can be confusing when Excel applies sorting rules of which you are unaware. This is ...

Discover More

Last Document Saves Not Saved

Click the Save button and you expect your document to be saved, right? What if you later discover it wasn't really saved? ...

Discover More

Seeing Formula Cells on Different Worksheets

Edit a cell in the Formula bar, and Excel highlights the cells referenced in that formula. If you want to see cells ...

Discover More

Solve Real Business Problems Master business modeling and analysis techniques with Excel and transform data into bottom-line results. This hands-on, scenario-focused guide shows you how to use the latest Excel tools to integrate data from multiple tables. Check out Microsoft Excel 2013 Data Analysis and Business Modeling today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Worksheet Events

You can create macros that are automatically executed whenever certain events occur within a worksheet. This tip details ...

Discover More

Executing a Macro Every 15 Minutes

Need to run a macro at a given interval? It's easy to do when you learn how to use the .OnTime method, described in this tip.

Discover More

Progression Indicator in a Macro

When your macro is humming along, minding its own business, a user watching the screen may not see any activity and ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 8 - 2?

2018-05-21 11:38:59

Robert Cline

By deleting whatever character it was that was copied and pasted in to your Macro, replacing the character with a minus sign, as you suggested, worked like a charm.

Thank you Allen for a useful Macro.

Robert


2018-05-19 10:21:49

Allen

Robert: I suspect that if you copied and pasted the code into the Visual Basic Editor, the minus sign is not really a minus sign. Delete it and type a minus sign, and it should work fine.

-Allen


2018-05-19 07:31:49

Robert Cline

Thanks for the code Allen. I am using Excel 2016.
I get a syntax error at line: iEnd = iEnd – iStep

Am I missing something here?

Thank you.

Robert Cline


This Site

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.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.