Remove Blank Rows Fast in Excel & Google Sheets

This guide shows you the fastest ways to delete blank rows in Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. Whether you have a few stray empty rows or hundreds scattered through a large dataset, you’ll learn methods that take seconds, not manual scrolling. No prior experience is needed—just your spreadsheet open and ready.

What You’ll Need

• A computer with Excel (2016 or later) or Google Sheets (any current browser version).
• The spreadsheet file containing the blank rows.
• If your data has formulas, make sure you have a backup copy before deleting anything.

Step-by-Step

Method 1: Use “Go To Special” (Excel – Best for Most Cases)

1. Select your data range. Click and drag over the cells that include the blank rows. If your data is large, click the first cell, press Ctrl+Shift+End (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+End (Mac) to select everything from your starting cell to the last used cell.
2. Open “Go To Special”. Press F5 (or Ctrl+G) to open the “Go To” dialog, then click the “Special…” button in the bottom-left corner.
3. Choose “Blanks”. In the “Go To Special” dialog, select “Blanks” and click “OK”. Excel will now highlight every blank cell within your selected range. Important: This selects blank cells, not necessarily entire rows. If a row has any data in any other column, it won’t be selected.
4. Delete the rows. With the blank cells selected, go to the Home tab, click the Delete dropdown arrow, and choose Delete Sheet Rows. Excel will delete the entire rows that contain those blank cells.
5. Check your data. Scroll through to confirm no rows with important data were removed. If something went wrong, press Ctrl+Z immediately.

Method 2: Use a Filter (Works in Excel and Google Sheets)

1. Add a filter. Select your entire data range (including headers). In Excel, go to the Data tab and click Filter. In Google Sheets, click the filter icon (funnel) in the toolbar or go to Data → Create a filter.
2. Filter for blanks. Click the dropdown arrow on any column that you know is blank in the rows you want to remove. Uncheck “Select all”, then check “Blanks” (in Excel) or “(Blanks)” (in Google Sheets). Click OK.
3. Select the visible rows. Now only the blank rows are visible. Click the row number on the left for the first visible row, then hold Shift and click the last visible row number to select them all. Right-click any selected row number and choose Delete Row (or Delete rows in Sheets).
4. Clear the filter. In Excel, click the Filter button again to turn it off. In Google Sheets, click the filter icon again to remove it. Your blank rows are gone, and the remaining data is intact.

Method 3: Sort (Quick but Reorders Data)

1. Select your data. Highlight the entire range including headers.
2. Sort by a key column. In Excel, go to Data → Sort. Choose a column that has data in every row you want to keep (like an ID or name column). Set “Sort On” to “Cell Values” and “Order” to “A to Z” (or “Smallest to Largest”). In Google Sheets, click Data → Sort range and choose the same column.
3. Find the blank rows. After sorting, all rows with data in that column will be at the top, and rows that are blank in that column will be at the bottom. They will be grouped together.
4. Delete the blank rows. Select the row numbers of the blank rows at the bottom (they should all be contiguous), right-click, and choose Delete.
5. Restore original order (optional). If you had a column with a sequential number or a timestamp, sort by that column again to put your data back in its original order.

Common Mistakes

• Selecting the entire column instead of just the data. If you select an entire column, “Go To Special” will select every blank cell in that column, including thousands below your data, and deleting “Sheet Rows” will wipe out everything below your table. Always select only the range that contains your data.
• Deleting cells instead of rows. If you press “Delete” (the key) after selecting blanks, you only clear the cell contents, leaving empty rows. You must use “Delete Sheet Rows” from the ribbon.
• Not checking for hidden data. A row might look blank but contain spaces, non-printing characters, or formulas that return “”. These won’t be selected by “Blanks”. Use a filter and look for rows that appear empty, or use the “Find” feature to search for spaces.
• Deleting rows with partial data. If a row has data in some columns but is blank in the column you filtered, you’ll delete that row entirely. Always filter on a column that is blank only in rows you actually want to remove.

Tips

• Use a helper column. If you have a complex dataset, add a new column at the end with the formula =COUNTA(A2:Z2) (adjust the range). This counts non-empty cells in each row. Rows with a 0 are completely blank. Filter on that column for 0 and delete those rows.
• Make a backup first. Before deleting anything, save a copy of your file (File → Save As → new name) or duplicate the sheet. This lets you recover if you accidentally remove data.
• Use keyboard shortcuts. In Excel, after selecting blanks with “Go To Special”, press Ctrl+- (minus) and then “R” then “Enter” to delete entire rows quickly.
• In Google Sheets, use the “Remove Blank Rows” add-on. While add-ons aren’t built-in, you can find free ones in the Google Workspace Marketplace. They automate the process, but the filter method above works just as well.

Troubleshooting

• “Go To Special” selects all blank cells in the entire sheet. This happens when you didn’t select a specific range first. Click on a single cell inside your data and press Ctrl+A to select the current region, then try again.
• Blank rows are not being deleted. If you used “Go To Special” and then clicked “Delete” (the key), you only cleared the cells. Use the “Delete Sheet Rows” option from the ribbon instead.
• Rows that look blank still have data. Check for spaces. Select the row, press Ctrl+H to open Find & Replace. In “Find what”, type a single space. In “Replace with”, leave empty. Click “Replace All”. This will remove spaces, but be careful—it will remove spaces from any cell, not just those in blank rows.
• Filter shows “(Blanks)” but no rows appear. This means there are no completely blank rows in that column. Try filtering on a different column that you suspect is blank in the rows you want to remove.
• After deleting, formulas reference wrong cells. If your formulas use direct cell references (like =A1+B1), deleting rows will change the references. Use absolute references (like =$A$1+$B$1) or better, use tables (Excel) or named ranges to avoid this.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I undo deleting blank rows?

Yes, immediately after deletion, press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Cmd+Z (Mac) to undo. If you’ve done other actions since, you may need to press it multiple times.

Why does “Go To Special” select cells that look empty but aren’t?

Those cells likely contain spaces, line breaks, or formulas that return an empty string. Use the Find & Replace method to remove spaces, or use the COUNTA helper column to identify truly empty rows.

Will deleting blank rows mess up my charts or pivot tables?

If your charts or pivot tables reference the entire column (e.g., A:A), they will automatically adjust. If they reference a fixed range (e.g., A1:A1000), you may need to update the range to exclude the deleted rows.

How do I delete blank rows but keep blank columns?

The methods above delete entire rows, which removes all data in that row across all columns. To keep blank columns, you would need to delete only the cells in specific columns, which is not recommended as it shifts data. Instead, hide the blank columns.

Is there a way to delete blank rows without affecting the rest of the sheet?

Yes, the filter method only deletes the visible (filtered) rows. It does not affect rows that are hidden by the filter. However, it will delete any row that meets the filter criteria, so make sure your filter is correct.

Can I use this on a Mac?

Yes, all methods work on Excel for Mac. The keyboard shortcuts are slightly different: use Cmd instead of Ctrl, and for “Go To Special” press Fn+F5 or Cmd+G.

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