Working with Data
쩦 Right-click (Control-click on a Mac). The control menu shown in Figure 6.11 appears; choose Delete Row or Delete Column. 쩦 On the menu bar, click Edit. From the Edit menu, select the row, column, or range you want to delete. Whichever method you choose, Google doesn’t ask for confirmation before it deletes the row or column (and all its data), so watch what you’re doing. If you make a mistake, click the Undo button immediately.
Moving a Row or Column You can move a row or column by cutting it from its present location and pasting it elsewhere, but that’s not the quickest way. First, make sure that you’ve got room to move the row or column to: Insert a row or column (see earlier section) at the location where you’re moving the data.
Warning 4U
If you try to move a column, for example on top, of an existing column, you’ll overwrite that column’s data.
Next, select the row or column you want to move. Hover the mouse pointer over the selection’s border. When the cursor changes to a pointing hand, click and drag the selection to its new location. Let go of the mouse button to drop the row or column into place.
Tip 4U
You can move multiple rows or columns—or any range of cells—using the method described here.
Hiding a Row or Column Sometimes you want a narrower view of the data. You might have a spreadsheet listing customer contacts, for example, that lists name, job title, address, phone number, email address, product interest, and notes. But right now, you’re making phone calls, so all you need to see are names and phone numbers. You can hide everything except the information you need to see. To hide a row or column, select what you want to hide. Right-click (Control-click on a Mac) to see the context menu shown back in Figure 6.11. From the menu, select Hide Row or Hide Column. Google hides the row or column you chose, putting in a marker to indicate that a hidden row or column occupies that spot of the spreadsheet. The column and its data are still part of your spreadsheet; they’re just not displayed in the current view. (To display the row or column again, click the marker.) Figure 6.12 gives you an idea of what a spreadsheet looks like with some rows and columns hidden.
135