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How to Select a Data Range in Google Sheets (2024 Update)

December 5, 2024

In this article we will show you how to select a data range in Google Sheets in just a few clicks. Simply follow the steps below.

Select a Data Range in Google Sheets

For the purpose of this demonstration we have created an example data set. Click here to access the sheet and follow along at home.

In this example we have a list of colors and reference numbers that we will select.

1. Select a cell in the range of your dataset 

Click on any cell of the data range you want to select. 

In the example below we have selected cell A6.

How to select a data range on Google Sheets

Selecting the Entire Data Range 

1. To select all data, press and hold “CTRL”+A” (“Cmd ⌘” + “A” for Mac) on the keyboard.

On the keyboard, press and hold Ctrl and then press the A key to select the entire dataset like our example below.

For Mac, press and hold Cmd ⌘ and then the A key.

Or alternatively, click on the first cell then drag and highlight the rest of the dataset. 

Select a data range Google Sheets

Selecting One Column in a Data Range

1. To select the column of data, press and hold the “CTRL” key on the Keyboard and then press the “Spacebar”.

Press and hold the CTRL key on the keyboard and then press the Spacebar. This will work on Windows and Mac.

The entire dataset of that column will then be selected just like our example below. 

How to select data range in Google Sheets

Selecting One Row in a Data Range

1. To select the row of data, press and hold the “Shift” key then press the “SpaceBar”

On the keyboard press and hold the Shift key and then press the SpaceBar. This will work for Windows and Mac.

The entire row within your data set will now be selected as in our example below.

How to select a data range in Google Sheets

We hope this article has helped you and given you a better understanding of how to select a data range in Google Sheets. You might also like our articles on how to use Google Sheets dynamic ranges and how to fix the formula parse error in Google Sheets.

To optimize your workflow, we recommend checking out this contact list template for Google Sheets.

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