Do you wish to learn how to shift cells up in Excel? Keep reading!
Ever felt like rearranging data in Excel is as frustrating as trying to clean up a messy desk? You move one thing, and suddenly, everything else feels out of place. Shifting cells up in Excel can be just as confusing if you’re not sure how to do it properly.
But don’t stress—I’m here to make it simple. In just a few easy steps, you’ll learn how to shift cells up without throwing your entire spreadsheet into chaos. Stick with me, and by the end of this tutorial, you’ll feel like an Excel pro. Let’s get started!
Using the Cut-and-Paste Method
This is the easiest method that comes to my mind when I need to shift cells up in my Excel worksheets. Though the technique is quite simple you can’t just use any cut-and-paste method. You must follow a special combination of cut-and-paste so the replaced cells shift down when you shift cells up.

Select the cell range you want to move up in the source dataset.
Press Ctrl + X on the keyboard to cust the cell range.

Now, select the cell where you want to move the selected cell range.

Right-click and select the Insert Cut Cells option in the context menu.

The rows will shift upwards to their intended location, and the existing rows will adjust accordingly to accommodate the move.
This method is advantageous since here you don’t create additional rows or cells. Instead, you actually move some rows and cells up and existing cells of the destination row move down.
You can follow this approach even if you’re moving a few cells up and not the entire row. The steps are exactly the same.
📒 Read More: 8 Ways to Shift Cells Down in Microsoft Excel
Using the Shift Cells Down Dialog
Let’s say you’re just organizing some rows or cells and don’t want to delete or replace existing ones outright. You’re okay with creating new rows to accommodate the movement of rows. In such a situation, you’ll find this method useful.

Highlight the source cells or rows and press Ctrl + C to copy the cells or rows.

Now, select the destination row or cell and right-click.
Click on the Insert Copied Cells option.

Select the Shift cells down option in the Insert dialog box and click OK.

Excel will copy the selected rows up where you wanted those but won’t delete the cells from their previous location.

If you’re satisfied with the movement of rows or cells you can delete the duplicate cells manually.
Using the Drag-and-Drop Method
This is yet another intuitive way to shift cells up in Excel. Here, you use smart drag-and-drop movements in your spreadsheet to make the movements. I’m showing you how to move the cells using complete rows. However, you can apply the same steps to a selection of cells instead of rows as well.

So, to start, select the rows and cells you want to move up.
Press the Shift button and keep it pressed until the task is complete.
Hover the mouse cursor over the borderline of the selected rows to bring up the drag cursor. It appears as a four-headed arrow.

Click on the borderline and move the rows to the destination location above its existing position.
Let go of the Shift key now.
You’ve successfully moved some rows up by displacing existing rows to the lower position of the dataset or table.
Using a Shortcut Key

Select the cells or rows you wish to move up in the source dataset.
Press the Ctrl + C to copy the cells.

Now, highlight the cell or row where you wish to move the previously selected and copied cells.
Press the Ctrl + + keys together to bring up the Insert dialog box.
Select the Shift cells down option and click OK.

That’s it! You’ve successfully shifted rows or cells up.
You can now delete the old cells or rows if you wish.
Using Excel VBA
Finally, if you’re looking for an automated way to shift cells up you can use this method based on Excel VBA. Here, I’ll show you how to create a VBA macro to perform this task automatically with visible and interactable prompts.
If you already know how to create a VBA macro, you can fast forward to the VBA script given below to set up the macro.
If you have never used Excel VBA before, go through the following Microsoft Excel tutorial. It’ll show you how to set up a VBA macro in easy steps, even if you are not a VBA programmer.
📒 Read More: How To Use The VBA Code You Find Online
If you’re ready, use this VBA script to create the VBA macro:

Sub MoveCellsUp()
Dim sourceRange As Range
Dim targetCell As Range
Dim targetRow As Range
Dim ws As Worksheet
Set ws = ActiveSheet
' Prompt user to select the range of cells or rows to move
On Error Resume Next
Set sourceRange = Application.InputBox("Select the cells or rows you want to move up", Type:=8)
On Error GoTo 0
If sourceRange Is Nothing Then Exit Sub
' Prompt user to select the cell or row where to move the selected cells
On Error Resume Next
Set targetCell = Application.InputBox("Select the target cell where you want to move the cells", Type:=8)
On Error GoTo 0
If targetCell Is Nothing Then Exit Sub
' Move the selected range to the target location
If sourceRange.Rows.Count > 1 Then
' If a whole row is selected
sourceRange.Cut
targetCell.EntireRow.Insert Shift:=xlDown
Else
' If a range of cells is selected
sourceRange.Cut
targetCell.Insert Shift:=xlDown
End If
' Clean up
Application.CutCopyMode = False
End Sub

Once you’ve set up the macro, press Alt + F8 to launch the Macro dialog box.
Select the MoveCellsUp macro and hit Run.

Excel will show you a dialog box allowing you to use the mouse cursor to select the cells or rows you would like to move up in the active worksheet.

Then, you’ll see another input box to select the cell or row where you wish to move the previously selected cells.

Once you interact with all of the visual prompts the script will automatically shift the selected cells up.
📚 Read more: If you find this Excel tutorial useful you’ll also like the following guides:
Conclusions
If you’ve followed this Microsoft Excel article until now you should have learned how to shift cells up in Excel.
Suppose, you’re an entry-level Excel user and occasionally use this skill to re-organize your worksheets you can use simple methods, like cut-and-paste, Shift cells down dialog box, and the drag-and-drop method.
Contrarily, if you like to use the keyboard more to work faster in Excel you can use the shortcut key-based method.
And lastly, the Excel VBA script and the macro will let you automate the whole process which is helpful when you use this Excel feature more often.
If the guide helped you to learn or perfect a new Excel skill use the comment box to share your acknowledgement. You can also use the reply box to share suggestions.
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