How to Delete Rows with No Data in Excel

Blank rows in your Excel spreadsheet can be more than just an eyesore, they can disrupt formulas, mess with sorting and filtering, and throw off your charts. Getting rid of them is a common data cleaning task that, thankfully, doesn't have to be a manual process of clicking and deleting one by one. This guide will walk you through a few simple, powerful methods to quickly delete empty rows from your dataset so you can get back to analyzing your information.

Before You Begin: Make a Backup

Before you perform any mass deletion of data, it’s always a good practice to save a backup of your file. Go to File > Save As and save a new version of your workbook with a name like "MyReport_Backup" or "MyReport_v2". This way, if you make a mistake, you can easily go back to the original version without any stress.

Method 1: Use the "Go To Special" Feature (The Fastest Way)

The "Go To Special" command is one of Excel's most useful hidden gems for data cleaning. It allows you to select all cells of a specific type - in this case, blank cells - at once. This method is incredibly fast and efficient for removing rows that are completely empty.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

• 1. Select Your Data Range: Click and drag to highlight the range of cells where you want to delete empty rows. If your data is in a solid block, you can simply click any single cell within your dataset, press Ctrl + A (or Cmd + A on Mac) to select the entire table, or even select entire columns by clicking their headers (e.g., Column A, B, C).
• 2. Open the "Go To Special" Dialog Box:
• 3. Select Blanks: In the "Go To Special" window, select the radio button for Blanks and click OK. Excel will instantly highlight every single empty cell within the range you selected in step 1.
• 4. Delete the Rows:

That's it! Excel will remove every row that was entirely blank, automatically shifting your data up to close the gaps.

A Quick Note on "Go To Special":

This method works best when the rows you want to delete are completely empty. If a row has data in one column but is blank in others, this method will select the blank cells but won't delete the entire row unless all cells in that row within your selection are empty.

Method 2: Use Sort & Filter to Group Blank Rows

If you prefer a more visual method or need to inspect the blank rows before deleting them, using Sort & Filter is a great alternative. This approach groups all the blank rows together, making them easy to select and delete in a single batch.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

• 1. Apply Filters to Your Data:
• 2. Filter for Blanks:
• 3. Delete the Filtered Rows: Your worksheet will now only show the rows that are blank in your chosen column. You can now safely delete them.
• 4. Clear the Filter: Go back to the Data tab and click the Filter icon again to remove the filters and see your newly cleaned dataset.

When to Use This Method:

The Filter method is perfect when your definition of an "empty row" is more flexible. For instance, if you consider a row to be irrelevant as long as the "Customer Name" column is blank, this method lets you target and delete those specific rows, even if other columns in that same row contain miscellaneous data.

Method 3: A Quick VBA Macro for Recurring Tasks

If cleaning up empty rows is something you do frequently with reports downloaded from the same source, a simple VBA macro can automate the entire process down to a single click. This might sound technical, but for this specific task, it's quite simple.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Setting up the Macro:

• Open your Excel workbook.
• Press Alt + F11 (or a Mac equivalent like Fn + Option + F11) to open the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) editor.
• In the VBA editor, go to Insert > Module. This will open a blank white code window.
• Copy and paste the following code into the module window:

Sub DeleteBlankRows()
    On Error Resume Next
    Columns("A").SpecialCells(xlCellTypeBlanks).EntireRow.Delete
    On Error GoTo 0
End Sub

2. Running the Macro:

• Close the VBA editor window by clicking the 'X'.
• Press Alt + F8 to open the "Macro" dialog box.
• You should see DeleteBlankRows in the list. Select it and click Run.

This script will instantly delete any row where the cell in Column A is empty. You can easily modify the code by changing "A" to "B" or "C" to check for blanks in a different column. Just like with the other methods, remember to save a backup before running any macros.

Final Thoughts

Cleaning out blank rows is a foundational step in preparing your data for accurate reporting and analysis. Whether you prefer the speed of "Go To Special," the control of filtering, or the automation a VBA macro offers, you now have a dependable process to make your spreadsheets clean, organized, and ready for you to pull insights from.

While mastering spreadsheet skills is invaluable, the routine task of exporting CSVs only to find them riddled with messy data is a huge time sink. At Graphed, we streamline this entire process. Instead of downloading and cleaning files, we connect directly to your data sources - like Google Analytics, Shopify, and Facebook Ads - and use simple, natural language to instantly build live, real-time dashboards for you. This means you skip the manual busywork and get right to the insights, all while working with data that is always up-to-date.