Group Rows Shortcut in Google Sheets

A long sheet gets hard to read fast. Twelve months of daily data, a budget broken down to the line item, a project plan with every sub-task spelled out.

Grouping rows lets you collapse a block down to a single summary row, then expand it back when you need the detail. It’s the cleanest way to make a giant sheet feel manageable.

There’s a single shortcut for it. The same one also handles grouping columns, depending on what you’ve selected.

Group Rows Keyboard Shortcut in Google Sheets

Group Rows Keyboard Shortcut (Windows Windows)

Alt + Shift + →

Group Rows Keyboard Shortcut (Mac Mac)

Option + Shift + →

What this shortcut does

Select a block of rows by their row numbers on the left, hit the shortcut, and Sheets draws a bracket along the left edge of those rows.

A minus button sits at the top of the bracket. Click it to collapse the group down to a single row. Click the plus button that replaces it to expand.

The same shortcut groups columns instead of rows when you select column letters. The selection type decides the direction.

How to use it (step by step)

  1. Click the first row number you want to group. Drag down (or Shift+click) the last row number to select the whole range.
  2. Press the shortcut.
  3. A bracket appears to the left of the selected rows, with a minus button at the top.
  4. Click the minus to collapse. Click the plus to expand again.
  5. To remove the group, select the same rows and press the shortcut with the Left arrow instead of Right.

A worked example. You’ve got a year of weekly sales in rows 2-53, and a January subtotal in row 14.

Select rows 2 to 14 (the January block) and hit the shortcut. The bracket appears. Click the minus and rows 2 to 13 collapse, leaving only the January subtotal visible.

Repeat for February, March, and so on. Now the sheet shows twelve monthly subtotals instead of fifty-two weeks.

Alternative method (menu / mouse)

Two non-shortcut paths:

  • Right-click the selected rows and pick View more row actions, then Group rows X-Y.
  • Use the Data menu, then Group, then Group rows X-Y.

Both do exactly what the shortcut does. The right-click route is handy when you’ve already got your hands on the mouse.

To ungroup from the menu: right-click and choose Ungroup rows, or use Data, Ungroup.

Things to watch for

  • Groups can nest. A group inside a group works fine, and each one gets its own collapse button. Useful for collapsing days inside a week inside a month.
  • Direction key matters. Right arrow groups, Left arrow ungroups. Easy to forget. If the shortcut seems to do nothing, you probably hit the wrong arrow.
  • The bracket location depends on the summary row position. By default the minus button sits at the top. If your summary row is below the data, change the position from Data, Grouped row settings.
  • Hiding rows is different. Hide-row removes rows from view with no expand button. Grouping leaves a visible toggle. Use grouping when you want to flip between summary and detail; use hide for things you want gone.
  • Filters and groups coexist. A filter view doesn’t break grouping, but the collapse state can look strange when both are active. Apply one at a time when you’re learning the behavior.

Google Sheets keyboard shortcuts

Related Google Sheets shortcuts: