Formatting columns and rows

Hello students, welcome to Kwickprep. Your attendance sheet has a thousand rows. Will you format each cell one by one? No. Today we will learn to select and format whole columns and rows at once. We will also insert, delete and hide them, and freeze the heading row.

Every row or column job starts with selecting it. To select one column, click its letter at the top, or press Ctrl+Space. To select one row, click its number on the left, or press Shift+Space. To select columns side by side, drag across their letters, or hold Shift and press the arrow keys. To select columns that are far apart, hold Ctrl and click each letter.

Once a column is selected, any format applies to the whole column. Click column D, where fees are entered. Apply the Currency format, and every amount in it shows the rupee sign. The best part is that new amounts typed there later get the same format automatically. The same idea works for bold, font colour, fill colour and alignment.

Now let us format the heading row. Click row number one to select it. Make it bold, centre the text and give it a light fill colour. Increase the row height a little so the headings stand out. If a heading like Date of Admission is long, turn on Wrap Text so it uses two lines instead of a wide column.

Forgot a student in the list? Insert a row. First select row five by clicking its number. Right click the row number. Click Insert. A new, empty row appears above the old row five. All the rows below move down by one. For a column, select a column and do the same, and the new column appears to its left.

Deleting works the same way. Right click the row number and choose Delete. The whole row and its data are removed from the sheet. The rows below move up to close the gap. Note the difference: pressing the Delete key on the keyboard only clears the contents, and the empty row stays in place.

Sometimes a column should not be seen, such as a column of phone numbers when you print a list. Right click the column letter and choose Hide. The data is still there, and formulas still use it. You can spot a hidden column because a letter is skipped, like A, B, then D. To bring back column C, select columns B and D on both sides, right click, and choose Unhide.

In a long list, the headings scroll away and you forget which column is which. Freezing fixes this. First scroll to the top of the sheet. Click the View tab. Click Freeze Panes. Choose Freeze Top Row. Now row one stays on screen while you scroll down through a thousand rows. Freeze First Column does the same for column A.

All these commands also live on the Home tab. Row Height is under the Format button and sets an exact height. Column Width is also under Format and sets an exact width. Hide and Unhide is under Format too. Insert Sheet Rows and Insert Sheet Columns are under the Insert button. Delete Sheet Rows and Delete Sheet Columns are under the Delete button.

Pause and predict. Column C holds marks, and you hide it. Cell D1 adds up C2 to C6. Does D1 still show the correct total? Yes, because hiding a column does not delete its data. Does column C print? No, hidden rows and columns do not print, which is exactly why we hide them.

In LibreOffice Calc, most of these jobs feel the same. Right click a column letter, and Hide and Show are on the menu. Exact row height is under the Format menu, then Rows. Freezing is under the View menu, then Freeze Cells, then Freeze First Row.

Let us revise. Click a column letter or row number to select all of it. Format it once, and the whole column or row follows, even for new data. Right click the letter or number to insert, delete, hide or unhide. Hidden data stays in the sheet and still works in formulas. And View, then Freeze Panes, keeps your headings on screen while you scroll.