How to Clear Cell Contents in Excel & Google Sheets

Written by

Editorial Team

Reviewed by

Laura Tsitlidze

Last updated on May 23, 2023

This tutorial demonstrates how to clear the contents of multiple cells at once in Excel and Google Sheets.

clear cell contents intro

Clear Cell Contents

If you delete rows or columns in Excel, all cells are shifted accordingly. However, you can also delete only cells’ contents without shifting. Say you have the dataset below.

 

clear cell contents initial data

 

  1. To delete only values from Row 4 (range B4:E4), first select the range to clear (B4:E4).
  2. Then in the Ribbon, go to Home > Clear > Clear All (or use keyboard shortcuts).

 

clear cell contents 1

 

As a result, cells in Row 4 are now cleared, without shifting, so all other cells are unchanged.

 

clear cell contents final data

 

Tips

Clear Contents in Google Sheets

To clear cell contents without shifting in Google Sheets, follow these steps:

  1. Select the data range you want to clear (B4:E4), and in the Menu, go to Edit > Delete values.

 

google sheets clear content

 

In this case, cell content is deleted, but the formatting remains.

 

google sheets clear content final

 

  1. To clear all formatting, select the same range (B4:E4), and in the Menu, go to Format > Clear formatting (or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + \).

Note: This shortcut only works in Google Sheets. In Excel, CTRL + \ selects row differences.

 

google sheets clear content final 2a

 

Now, all content and formatting are cleared from the selected range of cells.

 

google sheets clear content final 2

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