Do you know all the ways to add columns to your Google Sheets?
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How To Add Columns in Google Sheets
About this Tutorial
Video Transcript
0:00 You might know how to add a column to a Google Sheet, but you might not know all the ways to add columns to Google Sheets.
0:06 And why do we want to know all of the ways? One of the reasons we do is because it allows us to explore different functionalities that exist within the Google Sheets.
0:16 Knowing one way to add a column in a Google Sheet is really okay. And, but it might slow you down in certain contexts.
0:24 So you might know one way or two ways or three ways, but you might not know all the ways. And just knowing all the ways and seeing all the ways to add columns will allow you to go faster and better.
0:33 So right away, and also I have found that sometimes it's not as intuitive as it seems. Like Google Sheets, sometimes, you have to experience it to learn it.
0:42 And if we never experience something or experience a menu, we might never know that, oh, that exists there for whatever reason.
0:49 Like, for instance, you might be selecting a column that you want to insert an image, insert a column to, and go up to insert.
0:58 To me, that might seem the most infu, influential, no, in,intuitive way to add a column. Because here is the word insert.
1:09 And you go to insert, columns, and you can insert a column to the left, or you can insert a column to the right.
1:15 But you can also do that if you select the column, and you have this hand arrow, and you select the entire column.
1:21 By clicking on the column header here, not the first row, but the whole entire column. And on a Mac, I use the control button.
1:30 On a Windows, you might use command, or some other right-click. And also, if you have a mouse, you right-click. And I'm gonna hit control.
1:41 . And the keyboard and click there. And here, we have insert column left and insert column right. And so this allows us to stay within inside the sheet and insert the columns.
1:54 But you might not know, as well, you might always think, oh, I have to select the entire column to insert a column.
1:59 But you can actually be on any row, we can even.. Go down to row 247 and right click here and we can insert column left.
2:07 That's interesting, right? We can't insert a column right, but we can't insert column left. We can go over here, insert column left.
2:15 Very weird, right? Now there are five ways, that's five ways to add a column. But let me share with you..
2:21 A couple more ways. One is not just adding one column, but we can actually add multiple columns if we select that number of columns we want to add.
2:31 So say we want to add like three columns here. We can go and select C, D and E and then we right click and now our option here is not to add.
2:41 A column, but add three columns to the left or three columns to the right. This is very unintuitive, right? We wouldn't necessarily know that this exists unless we actually went and highlighted that many rows.
2:52 Here's rows, columns, five columns, highlighting them and now I can insert five columns to the left or five columns to the right.
2:59 Pretty cool, right? That's two more ways. To add columns. Now here's one thing that you might miss because you actually can't do it.
3:07 If you say, okay, I have a naturally on a sheet, we have A to Z and we'll just go and delete those columns there.
3:14 So we have A to Z on every new sheet. That's 26 columns. If we scroll to the left over here and we click.
3:22 This area right between A and one, we select the entire sheet, this entire tab. And then if we right click now we can do insert 26 columns to left.
3:33 We cannot insert 26 columns to the right, but what's interesting too is if we stay on this in this area, one A one between A one, this sort.
3:42 Of a little square here or cell. Now we right click on it and we cannot add a column. We can only insert rows above and below.
3:51 Now, isn't this interesting? They actually don't let you add the columns over here. We would have to first select everything and then go anywhere else and right click insert 26 columns.
4:02 To the left, we might want to though insert them to the right. So we select everything here and let's see if we just select anything.
4:09 Everything by hand, which is the same outcome, right? You think? But no, we have the we can right click here.
4:15 Now we have 26 columns to the left and 26 columns to the right. So it's very unintuitive that the fact that if you click the.
4:22 Higher sheet here and right click. Now we have that option, right? OK, let's unselect everything and now click it again.
4:29 We do not have that option to add columns anymore. Only rows. So it gets a little counterintuitive sometimes when you're trying to do something, but don't fret.
4:39 There's always multiple ways to do the same thing.
0:06 And why do we want to know all of the ways? One of the reasons we do is because it allows us to explore different functionalities that exist within the Google Sheets.
0:16 Knowing one way to add a column in a Google Sheet is really okay. And, but it might slow you down in certain contexts.
0:24 So you might know one way or two ways or three ways, but you might not know all the ways. And just knowing all the ways and seeing all the ways to add columns will allow you to go faster and better.
0:33 So right away, and also I have found that sometimes it's not as intuitive as it seems. Like Google Sheets, sometimes, you have to experience it to learn it.
0:42 And if we never experience something or experience a menu, we might never know that, oh, that exists there for whatever reason.
0:49 Like, for instance, you might be selecting a column that you want to insert an image, insert a column to, and go up to insert.
0:58 To me, that might seem the most infu, influential, no, in,intuitive way to add a column. Because here is the word insert.
1:09 And you go to insert, columns, and you can insert a column to the left, or you can insert a column to the right.
1:15 But you can also do that if you select the column, and you have this hand arrow, and you select the entire column.
1:21 By clicking on the column header here, not the first row, but the whole entire column. And on a Mac, I use the control button.
1:30 On a Windows, you might use command, or some other right-click. And also, if you have a mouse, you right-click. And I'm gonna hit control.
1:41 . And the keyboard and click there. And here, we have insert column left and insert column right. And so this allows us to stay within inside the sheet and insert the columns.
1:54 But you might not know, as well, you might always think, oh, I have to select the entire column to insert a column.
1:59 But you can actually be on any row, we can even.. Go down to row 247 and right click here and we can insert column left.
2:07 That's interesting, right? We can't insert a column right, but we can't insert column left. We can go over here, insert column left.
2:15 Very weird, right? Now there are five ways, that's five ways to add a column. But let me share with you..
2:21 A couple more ways. One is not just adding one column, but we can actually add multiple columns if we select that number of columns we want to add.
2:31 So say we want to add like three columns here. We can go and select C, D and E and then we right click and now our option here is not to add.
2:41 A column, but add three columns to the left or three columns to the right. This is very unintuitive, right? We wouldn't necessarily know that this exists unless we actually went and highlighted that many rows.
2:52 Here's rows, columns, five columns, highlighting them and now I can insert five columns to the left or five columns to the right.
2:59 Pretty cool, right? That's two more ways. To add columns. Now here's one thing that you might miss because you actually can't do it.
3:07 If you say, okay, I have a naturally on a sheet, we have A to Z and we'll just go and delete those columns there.
3:14 So we have A to Z on every new sheet. That's 26 columns. If we scroll to the left over here and we click.
3:22 This area right between A and one, we select the entire sheet, this entire tab. And then if we right click now we can do insert 26 columns to left.
3:33 We cannot insert 26 columns to the right, but what's interesting too is if we stay on this in this area, one A one between A one, this sort.
3:42 Of a little square here or cell. Now we right click on it and we cannot add a column. We can only insert rows above and below.
3:51 Now, isn't this interesting? They actually don't let you add the columns over here. We would have to first select everything and then go anywhere else and right click insert 26 columns.
4:02 To the left, we might want to though insert them to the right. So we select everything here and let's see if we just select anything.
4:09 Everything by hand, which is the same outcome, right? You think? But no, we have the we can right click here.
4:15 Now we have 26 columns to the left and 26 columns to the right. So it's very unintuitive that the fact that if you click the.
4:22 Higher sheet here and right click. Now we have that option, right? OK, let's unselect everything and now click it again.
4:29 We do not have that option to add columns anymore. Only rows. So it gets a little counterintuitive sometimes when you're trying to do something, but don't fret.
4:39 There's always multiple ways to do the same thing.