How To Select Non-Adjacent Cells In Excel

Selecting adjacent cells in Microsoft Excel is easy, but highlighting a number of cells which don’t back onto each other/are not continuous, and may be spread far and wide across the document, isn’t quite so simple.

Thankfully, with a little help, you’ll still be able to master the process of selecting non-adjacent cells in no time. To learn how to do it, check out our comprehensive tutorials below. For all other information, or if you have further unanswered questions, please direct your attention to our FAQ section at the end of this article.

How to select non-adjacent cells in Excel (mouse and keyboard)

  1. Open Microsoft Excel on your device and load a document you’re currently working on, for practice
  2. First, left-click on the first cell you want to select
  3. Next, hold CTRL on your keyboard
  4. Then simply click each individual non-adjacent cell you want to include in your selection whilst holding down the CTRL key
  5. Once you’ve made your selection, you can let go of the CTRL key

How to select non-adjacent cells in Excel (name box)

  1. Open Microsoft Excel on your device and load a document you’re currently working on, for practice
  2. Now, in the Name box above column A (it should probably read ‘A1’ as default) simply type the column and row number of each individual non-adjacent cell you wish to select, separated by a comma
    1. For example: Type A1, D5, T6, E13, Z87
  3. Lastly, press ENTER and you will see all of the cells you have referenced are now highlighted for you to work on

How to select non-adjacent cells in Excel (keyboard)

  1. Open Microsoft Excel on your device and load a document you’re currently working on, for practice
  2. First, left-click on the first cell you want to select, making this the active cell
  3. Now, press F8 on your keyboard to put Excel in ‘Extend Selection’ mode (you should see the words ‘Extend Selection’ appear below the sheet tabs).
    1. Note: depending on your device, you may have to hold FN or FUNCTION and then F8 to enable this mode
  4. You have now highlighted the first cell, but can select a range of adjacent cells by using the UP, DOWN, RIGHT, and LEFT arrow keys. Alternatively, if you just want to select one cell for now, skip to step 5.
  5. Hold SHIFT on your keyboard and press F8 again, changing Excel to ‘Add or Remove Selection’ mode. Then, use the arrow keys to freely move to the next cell you wish to highlight
  6. Once you’ve reached the next cell in your selection, hit F8 (or FUNCTION + F8) again to re-enter ‘Extend Selection’ mode, thus highlighting the cell (again, you can highlight multiple cells with the arrow keys if you need to).
  7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 until you have selected all of the non-adjacent cells you need to.

And there you have it! All three methods for selecting non-adjacent cells in Microsoft Excel made simple and straightforward with our super easy tutorials.

If you have any other questions, or would like a touch more info, check out our FAQs below!

FAQs

What is meant by non-adjacent cells in Microsoft Excel?

The cells in Microsoft Excel are the individual rectangles which comprise the larger spreadsheet. Each cell is used to contain different values, which can then be referenced in formula, equations, charts and graphs. 

Adjacent cells can be easily selected and highlighted by clicking and dragging a box to cover the whole continuous data set you wish to highlight, or by clicking the first cell, holding SHIFT on your keyboard, and using the UP, DOWN, LEFT, and RIGHT arrow keys to expand the highlighted area to cover your desired selection.

However, it’s not quite so easy to select non-adjacent cells, or in other words, those cells which do not back onto each other, and are spread far and wide across the spreadsheet. Thankfully, whilst not as easy as selecting adjacent cells, selecting non-adjacent cells is far from impossible.

To learn how to select non-adjacent cells in Microsoft Excel, simply follow our step-by-step guides above.

Which is the most efficient method for selecting non-adjacent cells in Microsoft Excel?

The answer to this question depends largely on you and your preferred method of working. If you’re a keyboard warrior, then you should make yourself familiar with the F8 shortcuts described above (although we’d argue that this method is easily the most difficult to execute well).

On the other hand, if you’ve got a small selection of cells you need to highlight, and can easily see them all in front of you, you’re probably going to prefer the keyboard and mouse method, where you hold SHIFT and click each individual cell you wish to select.

If, however, you’re better with letters and numbers than with your hand-eye coordination or dexterity, then punching the cell codes you need to highlight/select into the Name box on Microsoft Excel is surely the way to go.

Ultimately, as with any process which can be executed using multiple methods, the best way to work out the most efficient method for you is simply to try them all out and decide for yourself which you’re best at!

How do I select all non-adjacent cells which contain a specific value?

If you’d like to select a whole range of cells, some adjacent, others non-adjacent, which all contain the same specific value, then using one of the methods detailed above might not be the most time-efficient means of doing so. 

In this case, you should use the ‘Find & Replace’ tool, in order to quickly locate, highlight, and make actions on all of the cells contained within your worksheet/spreadsheet which have within them the same specific value.

To do so, first select the entire data range by clicking the small grey arrow in the top-left of the spreadsheet. Next, on your keyboard, press CTRL/CMD + F to bring up the ‘Find & Replace’ function. In the blank ‘Find’ field type the value you’re looking for (say ‘22’ or ‘Alice’) and then click ‘Find All’. Microsoft Excel will then generate a list of all of the cells containing this value, and will highlight them all.

Select individual cells from this list by clicking on them one at a time, or change the entire lot by shifting to the ‘Replace’ tab of the ‘Find & Replace’ window, and inputting the new (or blank) value in the replace field, and hitting ‘Replace All’.