# Yet Another Excel Question. Help! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 10, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609 "2008-12-10T20:55:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![erleichda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4da419/32.png) [@erleichda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erleichda)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609/1 "2008-12-10T20:55:51Z")
Why won’t Excel let me select more than one cell with my mouse? It’s making formatting a real PITA. Any (prompt) suggestions will be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609/2 "2008-12-10T20:59:58Z")
Click and drag. Hold the left button down and drag it however you want. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609/3 "2008-12-10T21:00:39Z")
At the risk of sounding silly… Hold down the mouse button and select the range you want. In more seriousness… Can you give us more information? Which version? What, exactly, are you trying to do and what happens when you do it? Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![erleichda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4da419/32.png) [@erleichda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erleichda)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609/4 "2008-12-10T21:04:43Z")
Yes, I do know the general idea of how to select multiple cells, Excel is just refusing to cooperate. I am using the Office 2007 version. When I hold down the mouse button and drag, I just get skipped to another individual cell rather than getting them all. Does this make any sense or am I explaining poorly? ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609/5 "2008-12-10T21:06:48Z")
Something to try when things go awry. Save your worksheet. Shut down Excel and start it again. I find that sometimes helps when Excel (or any application) goes a bit wacky. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609/6 "2008-12-10T21:08:17Z")
Try clicking them individually while holding “Ctrl”. If you don’t mind me piggybacking, why are certain collumns in this document hidden, and how do I unhide them? It goes A B C D L. ---
**Author:** ![erleichda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4da419/32.png) [@erleichda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erleichda)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609/7 "2008-12-10T21:08:52Z")
This has been happening the last three times I have used Excel. I have shut it down and restarted it each time. I have also run an Office diagnostics and found nothing wrong. Could it be my mouse that’s having the issue? ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609/8 "2008-12-10T21:12:37Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > Try clicking them individually while holding “Ctrl”. > > If you don’t mind me piggybacking, why are certain collumns in this document hidden, and how do I unhide them? It goes A B C D L. Highlight columns D and L, right click and choose Unhide. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![erleichda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4da419/32.png) [@erleichda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erleichda)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609/9 "2008-12-10T21:12:54Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > Try clicking them individually while holding “Ctrl”. > > If you don’t mind me piggybacking, why are certain collumns in this document hidden, and how do I unhide them? It goes A B C D L. Of course not, Santo. I’m sure you have experience!😃 ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609/10 "2008-12-10T21:13:44Z")
> [@erleichda](#): > > Could it be my mouse that’s having the issue? It’s certainly a possibility. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609/11 "2008-12-10T21:15:53Z")
It’s possible one of the keys on your keyboard is stuck. I’ve had this happen before. The same goes for the mouse. ---
**Author:** ![erleichda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4da419/32.png) [@erleichda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erleichda)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609/12 "2008-12-10T21:24:55Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > It’s possible one of the keys on your keyboard is stuck. I’ve had this happen before. The same goes for the mouse. How would I find out if this is the problem, and, more importantly, how would I fix it? ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609/13 "2008-12-10T21:40:03Z")
> [@zev\_steinhardt](#): > > Highlight columns D and L, right click and choose Unhide. > > Zev Steinhardt Well, that was simple! And I never would have thought of it myself. Thanks! > [@erleichda](#): > > Of course not, Santo. I’m sure you have experience!😃 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609/14 "2008-12-10T22:01:23Z")
I haven’t had this exact problem. Actually it was the opposite. Everything I rolled over suddenly got selected. I have no idea why but a few toggles later with my scroll lock key, insert key, and my F Lock key (function key toggle may not be on all keyboards) and it freed up. Other times I shut down, rebooted and it resolved. I do a lot of heavy data calcs and macros with 2007 and I’ve found it to be temperamental ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609/15 "2008-12-10T23:01:54Z")
> [@erleichda](#): > > How would I find out if this is the problem, and, more importantly, how would I fix it? Just try another mouse or keyboard, and replace if necessary. Simple. ---
**Author:** ![erleichda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4da419/32.png) [@erleichda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erleichda)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609/16 "2008-12-10T23:30:02Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > Just try another mouse or keyboard, and replace if necessary. Simple. Simple if I had another mouse or keyboard lying around you mean. I just need it to cooperate for another hour or two so I can finish this assignment! ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question-help/476609/17 "2008-12-11T01:07:29Z")
> [@erleichda](#): > > How would I find out if this is the problem, and, more importantly, how would I fix it? Keyboards often get crumbs in them. Turn it upside down and shake it, bang it around, wack the keys. Normally it’s a tab,shift,ctrl, alt button that causes problems in Excel. Haven’t had much luck with mouse buttons if they fail.