How to Transpose Rows to Columns in Excel & Google Sheets

This tutorial demonstrates how to transpose rows to columns in Excel and Google Sheets.

 

transpose rows columns initial data

 

Transpose Rows to Columns

In Excel, you can transpose data from rows to columns. This is often used when you copy data from some other application and want to re-organize them to column-oriented. You can transpose rows from a single column, or transpose multiple column rows at once using the Paste special option.

Transpose Rows in One Column

Say you have the following list of names in Column A and want to transpose them to columns in Row 1.

 

transpose rows columns initial data

 

  1. Select the range to transpose (A1:A8), right-click the selected area, and choose Copy (or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + C).

 

transpose rows columns 1

 

  1. Right-click the cell where you want to paste transposed data (B1), click the arrow next to Paste Special, and choose the Transpose icon (or use the Transpose shortcut).

 

transpose rows columns 2

 

Note: Your paste range can’t intersect with the original, copied range. (That’s why we pasted data in B1, not A1.) After pasting, you can delete the original data in Column A – if not needed – because all values are now in the columns of Row 1.

 

transpose rows columns 3

 

Transpose Rows in Multiple Columns

You could also have data in rows across multiple columns and need to transpose them. For example, your header is in the first column, but should be in the first row, and each item should have its own row. In the following data set, sales data are organized this way.

 

transpose rows columns 4

 

To transpose all rows to columns, follow these steps.

  1. Select the range to transpose (A1:E4), right-click the selected area, and choose Copy (or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + C).

 

transpose rows columns 5

 

  1. Right-click the cell where you want to paste transposed data (F1), click the arrow next to Paste Special, and choose the Transpose icon (or use the Transpose shortcut).

 

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  1. Now you can delete the original data if you don’t need it since the range is transposed to rows.

 

transpose rows columns 7

 

Transpose Rows to Columns in Google Sheets

Similar to Excel, you can also transpose rows to columns in Google Sheets.

  1. Select the range to transpose (A1:A8), right-click the selected area, and choose Copy (or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + C).

 

google sheets transpose rows columns 1

 

  1. Right-click the cell where you want to paste transposed data (B1), click Paste Special, and choose Transposed.

 

google sheets transpose rows columns 2

 

As a result, values from Column A are now transposed in Row 1.

 

google sheets transpose rows columns 3

 

Transposing multiple columns works similarly.