Inserting Multiple Rows in Google Docs – Spreadsheet

Posted on 2011.09.15 by Jose Ibarra

Google recently upgraded their docs interface and they made big improvements within Google Docs.  I have always been comfortable with their word processor, but recently I decided to take the plunge and begin using their spreadsheet doc.

Things seemed to be a bit streamlined and I was okay with the clean, simple interface.  My biggest challenge was inserting multiple rows.

Clicking on every menu, right-clicking on single rows,  or trying the traditional ctrl + did not do the trick.  It is a little cumbersome, but here is how I got around this annoyance:

This what Google gives you by default:

insert single row above or below

After all my cutting and pasting, I decided to highlight multiple rows, this did not work. What you need to do is highlight the row numbers (headers?) and not the actual rows.  Once they are highlighted, right-click on the row numbers column and you will see the menu change, like so:

multiple row inserts google docs

Although this is a bit clunky, it did resolved my issue of adding one row at a time.  I really hope Google brings shortcut support to this little, yet important task.

8 Comments on “Inserting Multiple Rows in Google Docs – Spreadsheet”

  • dave April 13th, 2012 2:44 pm

    brilliant!

  • Mital Pritmani May 23rd, 2012 4:27 am

    Thanks!!! It solved my problem!!! :)

  • bill July 14th, 2012 3:37 pm

    wow, hey google! That’s so obscure I’ll bet you consider that an Easter Egg!

  • Robin Hillman July 19th, 2012 11:54 am

    Thanks for taking the time to post this! It will surely save me a lot of time.

  • Travis December 5th, 2012 11:47 pm

    Thank you!! I’m using Google Sheets for work and needed to find a way to do this efficiently or scrap my sheet design altogether. You just saved me a lot of time!

  • Bob February 6th, 2013 1:22 pm

    Thanks, this also works in their app version as well.

  • R.Shenbagavam February 26th, 2013 11:48 pm

    Thanks, I was wondering how to insert Row, your demonstration was clear.

  • Naomi March 22nd, 2013 6:16 pm

    THANK YOU. This has been driving me nuts for ages and is so simple : ) You just saved me so much manual clicking!!!

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