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How to Delete Every Other Row in Excel

Do you have a large Excel worksheet that contains too many rows of data? Or do you want to remove some rows of data that are not relevant or useful for your analysis? If so, you can use various methods to delete every other row in Excel. Deleting every other row can help you reduce the size of your worksheet, make it easier to read and work with, and remove unwanted or duplicate data. In this article, I will show you three methods to delete every other row in Excel using manual selection, filtering, and VBA code.

  • Delete every other row manually: This is a simple and straightforward way to delete every other row in Excel. However, it can be tedious and time-consuming if you have a lot of rows to delete. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Open your spreadsheet in Excel.
    2. Select the rows you want to delete by clicking on the row numbers on the left side of the screen. You can select multiple rows by holding down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) and clicking on the row numbers.
    3. Right-click on any of the selected rows and choose Delete from the menu. This will delete all the selected rows at once.
  • Delete every other row using filtering: This is a more efficient and convenient way to delete every other row in Excel. It involves adding an extra column to your worksheet that will help you filter out the rows you want to keep or delete. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Open your spreadsheet in Excel.
    2. In an empty column next to your data, enter a sequence of zeros and ones. You can do this by typing 0 in the first cell and 1 in the second cell, then copying the first two cells and pasting them down the column until the last cell with data. Alternatively, you can use this formula: =MOD(ROW(),2) This formula will return 0 for even rows and 1 for odd rows.
    3. Select any cell in your new column and go to the Data tab > Sort & Filter group > Filter button. This will add drop-down arrows to all the header cells.
    4. Click on the arrow button in your new column and check one of the boxes: 0 to delete even rows or 1 to delete odd rows. This will filter out the rows with the opposite value.
    5. Select all the visible rows by clicking on the Select All button on the top left corner of your worksheet. Right-click on any of the selected rows and choose Delete from the menu. This will delete all the filtered rows at once.
    6. To remove the filter and see the remaining rows, click on the Filter button again.
    7. You can now delete your new column as you don’t need it anymore.
  • Delete every other row using VBA code: This is a fast and automated way to delete every other row in Excel. It involves using a macro that will loop through your worksheet and delete every second row based on a condition. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Open your spreadsheet in Excel.
    2. Press Alt + F11 on your keyboard to open the Visual Basic Editor window.
    3. Go to Insert > Module to insert a new module.
    4. Copy and paste this code into the module: Sub Delete_Every_Other_Row() Dim i As Long For i = Selection.Rows.Count To 1 Step -1 If i Mod 2 = 0 Then Selection.Rows(i).EntireRow.Delete End If Next i End Sub This code will delete every other row starting from the second row of your selection.
    5. Close the Visual Basic Editor window and go back to your worksheet.
    6. Select the range of cells where you want to delete every other row.
    7. Press Alt + F8 on your keyboard to open the Macro dialog box.
    8. Select the Delete_Every_Other_Row macro and click Run. This will run the macro and delete every other row in your selection.

In conclusion, deleting every other row in Excel can help you reduce the size of your worksheet, make it easier to read and work with, and remove unwanted or duplicate data. You can use various methods to delete every other row in Excel? depending on your preference and convenience. By using these methods, you can save time and improve your data quality.