Select Row Shortcut in Google Sheets

You want to act on the whole row. Delete it, hide it, copy it, format it, change its background color.

Clicking the row number on the far left works. But if you’re already in a cell on that row, there’s a one-key shortcut that selects the whole thing without moving your hand.

Same combo on Windows and Mac, no system conflicts to worry about.

Select Row Keyboard Shortcut in Google Sheets

Select Row Keyboard Shortcut (Windows Windows)

Shift + Space

Select Row Keyboard Shortcut (Mac Mac)

Shift + Space

What this shortcut does

With any cell selected, the shortcut expands the selection to the entire row that cell sits in. The row number on the left highlights, and every cell in that row joins the selection.

From there, anything you’d do to a single cell applies to the whole row. Delete it, copy it, hide it, paint it.

It’s the keyboard version of clicking the row number, except you never leave your current column.

How to use it (step by step)

  1. Click any cell in the row you want to select.
  2. Press the shortcut.
  3. The whole row lights up. The row number on the left is highlighted too.
  4. Run your command: delete, hide, copy, format.

A worked example. You’re in cell D7 and you want to delete row 7 entirely.

Hit Shift+Space. Row 7 is now selected. Right-click and pick Delete row, or use Ctrl+Alt+- (the delete-row shortcut on Windows). Row 7 disappears and everything below shifts up.

To select multiple rows at once, hit the shortcut first, then Shift+Down arrow. Each press of the arrow extends the selection by one more row.

Alternative method (menu / mouse)

The mouse path is to click the row number on the far left edge of the sheet. Drag across row numbers to grab multiple adjacent rows. Ctrl+click (⌘+click on Mac) on row numbers picks non-adjacent rows.

There’s no menu command for “select row” since selection isn’t a menu action. The choice is shortcut or mouse.

Things to watch for

  • Works the same on both platforms. No Mac function-key or system-shortcut conflicts to worry about. Shift+Space is reliable across operating systems and Sheets versions.
  • Cursor position decides which row. The selection follows the active cell. If you’ve already got a multi-cell selection that spans two rows, both rows get selected.
  • Pairs with Ctrl+Space for the column. Ctrl+Space selects the full column, Shift+Space selects the full row. Doing both back-to-back selects the whole sheet, which is sometimes faster than Ctrl+A.
  • Frozen rows behave normally. A frozen header row is still a regular row underneath. The shortcut selects it like any other.
  • Hidden cells in the row still get included. If a column inside the row is hidden, formatting or copy still applies to those hidden cells. Worth checking before a bulk edit.

Google Sheets keyboard shortcuts

Related Google Sheets shortcuts: