# Selecting Cells and Cell Ranges

By selecting multiple cells at once, common operations can be performed on all the cells which have been selected. These operations include data entry, copying the cells, and multiple other operations .

## Simple Selections

The simplest selection involves a single cell. Simply clicking with the left hand mouse button while the mouse cursor is over a cell will cause that cell to become selected.

The selected cell is indicated by a dark double line with a small square in the bottom right corner. The selected cell is the the one that is currently in focus and will take any input for the keyboard.

### A selected cell.

An image of a single selected cell.

To make a cell become the selected cell, simply move the white-cross cursor over the cell and press the left mouse button.

### Selecting a cell with the mouse cursor.

An image of the cursor selecting a cell.

## Selecting Multiple Cells

Several cells can be selected at once. The selection of multiple cells is indicated by a dark double line around the extents of the selection. The top-left cell appears much like a single selected cell while the rest of the selection is the inverse color.

### A multi-cell selection

An image of a contiguous selection of cells.

### Continuous selections

To make a continuous selection of cells, click on the cell with the white_cross cursor and drag the extents of the selection until it comprises the area you wish to select, and release.

#### Multiple cells being selected with the cursor.

An image of a block selection and the mouse cursor.

### Discontinuous selections

To select a set of cells that may not be continuous, use Ctrl+MB1 and drag to argument an existing selection. The cells can be added individually or as parts of other selections.

#### A discontinuous selection of cells.

An image of a multiple selection.

## Selections Using the Keyboard

The quickest way to make large selections, especially when your already using the keyboard is to just use the keyboard selection tools. The basic use is to press Shiftarrow keys to make a new selection.

To select an entire row of cells, press Shift+space. This is equivalent to pressing the row label button on the left side of the sheet.

### An entire row being selected.

An image of a selected row.

To select an entire column of cells, press Ctrl Space . This is equivalent to pressing the column label button on the top of the sheet.

### An entire column being selected.

An image of a selected column.

To select the entire sheet, press CtrlA. This is equivalent to pressing the button in the top left corner of the sheet.

### The entire worksheet being selected.

An image of an entire worksheet selected.

- ShiftArrow : Define selection with cursor keys.

- CtrlArrow : Jump to the end of the current region.

- AltSpace : Select current row.

- CtrlSpace : Select current column.

- CtrlA : Select the entire sheet.

- Ctrl/ : Select the array formula arround the current edit position.