Select Column Shortcut in Google Sheets

You want to do something to a whole column. Format it as currency, change the font, hide it, delete it, fill it with a color.

You could scroll to the top and click the column letter. Faster: hit one shortcut and the whole column is selected from wherever your cursor currently sits.

The same combo works on Windows and Mac.

Select Column Keyboard Shortcut in Google Sheets

Select Column Keyboard Shortcut (Windows Windows)

Ctrl + Space

Select Column Keyboard Shortcut (Mac Mac)

Ctrl + Space

What this shortcut does

With any cell selected, the shortcut expands the selection to the entire column that cell sits in. The column letter at the top highlights, and every cell in that column is now part of the selection.

From there, anything you’d do to a single cell applies to the whole column. Format it, copy it, hide it, delete it.

It’s the keyboard equivalent of clicking the column letter, without ever leaving your current row.

How to use it (step by step)

  1. Click any cell in the column you want to select.
  2. Press the shortcut.
  3. The whole column lights up. The column letter at the top is now highlighted too.
  4. Run whatever command you wanted: format, hide, copy, delete.

A quick example. You’re in cell C25 and you want to format column C as currency.

Hit Ctrl+Space. Column C is now selected. Press Ctrl+Shift+4 (the currency-format shortcut) and every cell in column C is now formatted as currency.

To select multiple full columns, hit the shortcut first, then Shift+Right arrow to extend the selection to the next column over.

Alternative method (menu / mouse)

The mouse equivalent is clicking the column letter at the top of the sheet. Drag across letters to select multiple adjacent columns. Ctrl+click (or ⌘+click on Mac) on each letter to select non-adjacent columns.

There’s no menu path for “select column” because it’s a selection operation rather than a command. Selection always happens with the mouse or a keyboard shortcut.

Things to watch for

  • Mac Ctrl+Space conflict. On macOS, Ctrl+Space is often mapped to Spotlight or to switching input sources by default. If the shortcut does nothing inside Sheets, open System Settings, then Keyboard, then Keyboard Shortcuts, and disable the conflicting binding. Most users either turn off the system shortcut or move it to a different key.
  • Cursor position decides which column. The selection follows whichever cell is active. If you’ve got a range selected across two columns, both columns get selected.
  • Pair it with Shift+Space for the row. Shift+Space selects the entire row. Doing Ctrl+Space then Shift+Space (or vice versa) selects everything. That’s a quick way to highlight the whole sheet from the keyboard.
  • Hidden columns still get included. If there’s a hidden column inside your selection, formatting or copy operations still apply to it. Worth keeping in mind before bulk-editing.
  • Frozen columns behave normally. A frozen column gets selected the same way as any other. Frozen status is a view setting, not a selection one.

Google Sheets keyboard shortcuts

Related Google Sheets shortcuts: