Shortcut to insert new row in Google Spreadsheets?

Question

Is there a way to do this without using the menu?

I have seen references to ctrl + space and ctrl + +, but this no longer works (zooms in and out in Google Chrome)

Answer 1

While it's not directly possible in the current version with its own keystroke, there is another very simple way to accomplish this.

First, be located in the row on which you want to insert a row above or below.

Then do the following (keys are on Mac, so translate as necessary for your OS):

1. Ctrl + Option + I - invokes the Insert menu
2. Then hit the R key for Row Above, or the B key for Row Below

I guess this way may actually be one less keystroke than how it was done before, so that's a win right there!

Alternatively, you can also just use your cursor keys (to me this is easier, even if it's more keystrokes):

• ↓ (down arrow once) for Row Above
• ↓↓ (down arrow twice) for Row Below
• Hit ⏎ (Enter).

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Chrome (Windows, Linux):

ALT+I, then R

IE & Firefox (Windows, Linux):

ALT+SHIFT+I, then R

Mac:

CTRL+OPTION+I, then R

---

This will add a row above.

Instead of R you can use...

• W to add row below
• C to add column to the left
• G to add column to the right

Answer 3

Discovered an easy shortcut for Mac. First, select the whole row. CMD-OPTION+ to insert a row above. CMD-OPTION- to delete the selected row.

Answer 4

For Windows laptop users, the shortcut is to highlight the whole row by pressing Shift+Space (or highlight the whole column by Ctrl+Tab) and press the context-menu key (which is usually located next to the Ctrl key) on your keyboard and then press "Insert 1 Below" / "Insert 1 Above" (or "Insert 1 Left" / "Insert 1 Right" for inserting a column).

Answer 5

Another option would be to use Alt+/ to open the "Search the menus" search box and type "bel" or "ab" (to highlight the proper option) and hit Enter.

The "Search the menus" method has the advantage of being universal - it's easy to use it for many other things without memorizing the specific shortcuts. Plus it works also on Google Docs for text documents.

Disclaimer: Tested in Chrome on Windows only.

Answer 6

I think different to all or most suggestions so far. Google Sheets Keyboard Shortcuts (accessible from Help > Keyboard shortcuts, or with Ctrl+/), shows me (Windows):

As a Firefox user for me the shorter versions (without Alt) are greyed out since reserved for zooming the screen.

I can confirm that selecting a row and then Ctrl+Alt+Shift+= does insert a blank row at the selected location and shift what was in that row, and all further below, down.

For Macintosh users the Keyboard short cut (at the same link) shows as:

And for Chrome

Depending on OS, Alt+Shift+i (Windows), Ctrl+Option+i (Mac) or Alt+i (Chrome) will open the Insert Menu of more than a dozen options, of which the first is Row above, which may be selected and actioned with just R.

Answer 7

Another solution is to use the Automator utility. I thought it would be easy to just have a keyboard shortcut to fire the Google Sheets menu item "insert new rows". Here's how you do it:

Setting up the Automator service

1. Open Automater (/Applications/Automator)
2. Make a new document
3. Choose "Service"
4. Drag in a "Run Applescript"
5. Paste in the following code:

on run {input, parameters}

  tell application "Google Chrome" to activate
  tell application "System Events"
    repeat 5 times
      keystroke "i" using {control down, option down}
      keystroke "R"
      key code 36
    end repeat
  end tell

  return input
end run

8. Save the service as "insert google sheets rows"

Setting up the keyboard shortcut

9. Open System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> Services
10. Scroll to the bottom under "General"
    • On your service name: "insert google sheets rows"
    • Click "Add shortcut"
    • I used control+option+command+n

Now, when you hit your shortcut, your insert rows script will run.

Customization

• You can choose the number of rows it inserts by changing the 5 in repeat 5 times to another number.
• You change the script to insert rows below instead of above by changing keystroke "R" to keystroke "B".

Answer 8

Note that on October 26, 2021, Google announced Enhanced menus in Google Sheets and by doing so, also changed a lot of of keyboard commands, including this one.

Chrome (Windows, Linux):

ALT+I, then R, then R/B → insert row above/below

IE & Firefox (Windows, Linux):

ALT+SHIFT+I, then R, then R/B → insert row above/below

Mac:

CTRL+OPTION+I, then R, then R/B → insert row above/below

Answer 9

According to this documentation found in the Insert or delete rows or columns section:

Insert row above

• in Google Chrome: Alt + I, then R
• other browsers: Alt + Shift + I, then R

Insert row below

• in Google Chrome: Alt + I, then W
• other browsers: Alt + Shift + I, then W

Answer 10

I haven't found any good keyboard shortcuts. The quickest way I can see to insert multiple rows/columns is to manually insert a row/column a couple times, then highlight all new blank rows, hit Ctrl+C, then right click again. Now you have the option to insert multiple new rows.

Answer 11

On PC, you can add a row above using a single keystroke (eg. F7) using autohotkey (it simply send the keystroke ctrl+i then r):

;--- active the code on all google sheet opened  
SetTitleMatchMode, Regex
#If WinActive("Google Sheets  ahk_class Chrome_WidgetWin_1")


;---It use F7, but you could use the shortcuts of your choice.
;--- You could use if needed: Alt(!) CTRL(^) shift(+) win(#)    
F7:: 
send +!i
sleep 100
send r
return 

#IfWinActive ; reset winactive

Answer 12

There are usually a bunch of empty rows at the bottom of the sheet. Select however many you need and drag them where you need.

Answer 13

On Windows:

Press Alt+b+b This inserts a row below.

Press Alt+b+a This inserts a row above.

Answer 14

Just do this (I used the lower case letter i because you couldn't tell if it was an L or not).

Alt+i+b

More precisely, select a row:

Hold Alt then press i (it brings up the insert menu) then let go and press the letter B.

It will insert a row below the selected row. You will have to hold alt, press i, then let go and press B again for every new row but it works quickly.

Answer 15

Try this: Ctrl+I then R.

This will insert a new row below.