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888-686-3025How to Flip Data With Transpose
What do you do when you have data that you want to flip: to flip rows to columns or columns to rows? Sometimes, you might have received information from someone else that isn’t in the right order. Other times, you might have simply typed it in the wrong order. Whatever the case, you may have what appears to be a seemingly useless data set in front of you, as it exists now: one that simply does not fit your current needs.
Here’s the good news: you don’t have to type that information back in from scratch, wasting your time and increasing the risk of errors. Instead, you can simply use Transpose to flip the data in Microsoft Excel.
What Does Transpose Do?
Transpose flips, or switches, rows and columns, making it easy for you to switch data around and look at it from a new perspective. You don’t have to worry about entering information from scratch; instead, you can use this simple strategy to put your data in the proper order.
How to Use Transpose
Ready to get started using Transpose? It could be simpler than you think.
1. Select the cells with the data you want to rearrange.
You can also use control + A to select the data, particularly if you have a large data set that you need to select for a specific project.
2. Copy the data.
You can use a variety of strategies to copy the data, from Control + C to right-clicking and selecting “copy” from the pop-up menu. You could also choose to use the copy command directly from the menu.
3. Move to a destination worksheet.
You can choose a destination worksheet in the original document or choose to open a new workbook in order to create a completely fresh data set. Once you have chosen your destination worksheet, select the first cell where you want to copy the new data. Make sure it’s free of any other content so that you won’t inadvertently add data that you don’t want to put in your worksheet.
4. Choose “Transpose” from the paste options on the menu.
If you right-click, the Transpose option will appear in the shortcut menu. Click this option to paste your data into the new worksheet. Before you paste it , you can take a look what your final copy will look like: you’ll get a preview that will show what that data will look like once you transpose it, including adjusted formulas and other information.
5. Delete the original information, if needed.
If you need to delete your original data set, you may want to go ahead and delete it. If you want to be able to look at it from different perspectives on a regular basis, you may want to choose to create a Pivot Table, which will allow you to easily and simply rearrange data by dragging and dropping it into different rows and columns. There is no connection between your original data and the data you’ve pasted into your new workbook, so you don’t have to worry about what deleting it will do to your current worksheet.
6. Make any future adjustments you might need to make.
As part of the process, you may also need to make other adjustments to your formulas or your data. Make sure everything matches and looks like it should before you finalize your changes.
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