How to delete every other cell in column

Hi everyone,

I started using Excel for the first time last night, so I am about as much a newbie as one can be. However, I have a background in math, with some programming, so I understand concepts but don't know any of the particulars of Excel. I don't know if this is an easy problem or not; I have searched online but have not found a solution, and I thank you for any help you can give me.

I have a very simple spreadsheet in Excel 2003. I attach a short example. It has two columns, and all I want to do is delete the odd-numbered cells in column B, but not the whole row. I want to end up with A1 and B2 in the first row, A2 and B4 in the second row, and so on. The real data I will be working with will be 500 to 2000 rows long, so it won't be something I can do by hand.

Thank you,
Robin

Ron, thank you so much! I should be able to handle this, but I have one question to start off. I have seen this sort of method used in my online searching, but I don't know how to copy a formula down a column. I paste it into C2 and it evaluates to 0, but all I can think of to do at that point is to drag the mouse cursor, which highlights the rest of the column but does not appear to insert the formula.

Thanks again,
Robin

Hi Cmplxgal and welcome to the forum.

Just to add what Ron has shown above. There are two easy ways to paste a formula all the way down your data espcially when there isn't any blanks in the cells to the left of your formula as it sounds. After you enter the formula you will see the bold box around the cell, in the bottom right corner of the cell you will see a little square. Once you scroll over this black square your mouse will change to a bold "+" sign. You can double click this and it will copy your formula down to the end or when it finds a blank cell to the left. Also you can use CTRL+C as Ron mentions and then select CTRL+SHIFT+END which will select your row to the end of your range where now you can hit enter to paste your data.

Hope this helps,
Cullen

Your too quick Ron.

Yes! This does it, and in a clever way. Thank you, Ron!

--Robin

I'm not sure if I should top-post or bottom-post when quoting, but thank you Cullen8! The double-click worked. You all are the best.

--Robin

Originally Posted by Cullen8

Hi Cmplxgal and welcome to the forum.

Just to add what Ron has shown above. There are two easy ways to paste a formula all the way down your data espcially when there isn't any blanks in the cells to the left of your formula as it sounds. After you enter the formula you will see the bold box around the cell, in the bottom right corner of the cell you will see a little square. Once you scroll over this black square your mouse will change to a bold "+" sign. You can double click this and it will copy your formula down to the end or when it finds a blank cell to the left. Also you can use CTRL+C as Ron mentions and then select CTRL+SHIFT+END which will select your row to the end of your range where now you can hit enter to paste your data.

Hope this helps,
Cullen

Ron, I was talking about the second method. Thanks again! I will change the thread status to "solved," assuming I see how to do that.

--Robin

Originally Posted by cmplxgal

Yes! This does it, and in a clever way. Thank you, Ron!

--Robin

Ron, I wanted to let you know that ultimately I had to use your first suggestion, and it worked like a charm. Thanks again (and to Cullen for the hint on copying the formula). My real-world data wasn't as consistent as my test file suggested, so that the second method (which relies on all the cells to be moved/saved having the word "attorney" in them) failed because a few of the cells to be saved didn't have "attorney." But all is well, and this experience has encouraged me to learn more about Excel.

--Robin

Originally Posted by Ron Coderre

Here's another approach...assuming that the word "Attorney" is not included in the cells you want to delete.
- This can be done with less steps...but you indicated that you're new to Excel)
- I used keyboard shortcuts because I can't remember some the the Excel 2003 menu command locations)

Does that help?

Ron: I have been trying to solve this problem for 90m, and your instructions were fantastic. I am a rookie excel user, and your assist was the best event of my work day. Thank you!