Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Office 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 All Graphics.

Deleting All Graphics

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated July 7, 2018)

3

Excel allows you to easily add graphics to a worksheet. This can be helpful at times, but at other times you may want to delete all the graphics in a worksheet. The easiest way to delete all the graphics is to follow these steps:

  1. Press F5 to display the Go To dialog box.
  2. Click on the Special button. Excel displays the Go To Special dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

    3. Figure 1. The Go To Special dialog box.

  3. Make sure the Objects radio button is selected.
  4. Click on OK. All the graphics in your worksheet are selected.
  5. Press the Del key. All the graphics are deleted.

This solution works only if there are no other objects (besides graphics) in your worksheet. If you have other objects that you don't want deleted, then all you need to do is perform steps 1 through 4, and then hold down the Ctrl key as you use the mouse to click on each object you don't want deleted. When you are satisfied with the objects selected, finish up by following step 5.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8967) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Office 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Deleting All Graphics.

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. ...

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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}] 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 four less than 4?

2018-04-14 12:21:04

Ruthie A. Ward

I sometimes process data for others using a workbook that contains macros attached to buttons and I also comment various cells or columns. After I finish processing, I hand the workbook over to the person for whom I'm processing data. My last step of processing is to use a macro from my QAT to remove all the shapes on each worksheet except for the comments and then save a copy. That copy is then passed on to the end user. This allows me to have a "template" ready to go to process the next batch of data and give the end user a product that is graphic-free and, if needed, commented.

2018-04-13 04:24:02

Mike Hodkinson

Thanks for sharing.

An alternative suggestion for deleting all graphics:

Select just one graphic then use Ctrl + A (select all) and then press the delete key.

Works for me.

Hope you find this of interest and assistance.

Best regards

Mike H

2018-04-13 03:09:28

saskia

There is another approach: with the selectionpane. That gives an overview of all the object on the current sheet. You can select one object by clicking on it, ore select more object by Ctrl+clicking.
Here it is also possible to (temporarely) hide an object (by clicking on the "eye" on the right). Unhide it by clocking another time on an object.

You find the selection pane with Start > (group Editing) Find&Select > Selection Pane (I hope this is the correct translation in English, because I am using the Dutch interface language).

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