How to Move Data in Google Sheets

Moving data around in Google Sheets is one of those fundamental skills that seems simple until it isn't. You may just need to quickly reorganize a few columns on one sheet, or you might need to pull a live feed of sales numbers from a completely different workbook. This guide will walk you through all the different ways to move data in Google Sheets, from the basic drag-and-drop to powerful formulas that can save you hours of work.

The Basics: Cut, Copy, and Paste

Let's start with the classic methods everyone knows. They are the building blocks for almost everything else you'll do in a spreadsheet. While they might seem obvious, there are a few nuances that can make a big difference.

Using Keyboard Shortcuts

The fastest way to handle data is with your keyboard. These shortcuts are your best friends:

Select your data: Click and drag your mouse over the cells, rows, or columns you want to move.
To Copy (leaves the original in place): Press Ctrl + C on a PC or Cmd + C on a Mac. You'll see a dashed line appear around your selection.
To Cut (removes the original data): Press Ctrl + X on a PC or Cmd + X on a Mac.
To Paste (places the data in a new location): Click on the top-left cell where you want your data to go, then press Ctrl + V (PC) or Cmd + V (Mac).

One important thing to note about cutting vs. copying is how Google Sheets treats formulas. When you cut and paste a cell containing a formula, the formula's cell references stay the same. When you copy and paste, the cell references are typically relative and will update based on the new location.

Using the Edit Menu

If you prefer using your mouse, you can find all these options in the main menu. Simply select your data, click on the "Edit" menu, and choose "Cut," "Copy," or "Paste".

Pasting with Purpose: Paste Special

Sometimes you don't want to paste everything. Maybe you only need the numbers, not the fancy formatting you used. That's where "Paste special" comes in handy. After you copy your cells, right-click where you want to paste them (or go to Edit > Paste special) and you'll see a list of super useful options:

Paste values only: This is a godsend. It pastes the results of your data without any formulas or formatting. If cell A1 has =SUM(B1:B5) and the result is 100, this will paste the number "100".
Paste format only: Copies only the styling - like bold text, cell colors, and number formatting - so you can quickly apply a consistent look to other data.
Paste column widths only: Convenient for when you have perfectly sized columns and want another section of your sheet to match.
Paste formula only: This will paste the formula itself, but not the formatting.
Paste transposed: An incredibly handy function that flips rows into columns, and columns into rows.

The Drag-and-Drop Method

For quick data reorganization on the same sheet, nothing beats the drag-and-drop. It's fast, visual, and intuitive.

Select the cell or range of cells you want to move.
Move your cursor to the edge of the selected range until it turns into a hand icon (✋).
Click and hold the mouse button, then drag the selection to a new location.
Release the mouse button to drop the data into its new home.

This is a "move" or "cut" operation - the data will disappear from its original spot. If you want to copy it instead, just hold down the Ctrl key (on PC) or Option key (on Mac) while you drag. You'll see a little plus sign (+) appear next to your cursor, indicating you're making a copy.

Moving Data Between Sheets and Spreadsheets

Often, your data doesn't stay on one tab. You might need to move summaries to a dashboard sheet or copy info to an entirely different workbook.

"Copy to" A Different Sheet

This method duplicates an entire sheet, which is perfect for creating a backup, a new version, or a template.

At the bottom of your screen, find the tab of the sheet you want to copy.
Right-click on the sheet tab.
Select "Copy to".
You have two choices:
- New spreadsheet: This creates a brand new Google Sheets file containing only a copy of this single sheet.
- Existing spreadsheet: This allows you to select another Google Sheets file from your Drive to move the copy into. It will appear as a new tab in that file.

The Pro Level: Moving Data with Formulas

Manually moving data is fine, but the real power of Google Sheets lies in its ability to bring data in automatically. Using formulas means your data is dynamic - when the source changes, your destination updates in real-time. No more copy-pasting every Monday morning!

Pulling Data with Array Literals ({})

This is the simplest way to reference a range from another sheet within the same file. Just wrap the range in curly braces {}.

Imagine you have a sheet named "Sales Data" and you want to display all the information from columns A through D on your "Dashboard" sheet. Click into cell A1 on your dashboard sheet and enter this formula:

={'Sales Data'!A:D}

That's it. Your "Dashboard" sheet now perfectly mirrors the data from the sales sheet. As soon as you update a number on "Sales Data," it instantly changes on the dashboard.

The IMPORTRANGE Function for Different Files

What if the data lives in a completely separate Google Sheet? Meet your new favorite function: IMPORTRANGE. It allows you to pull data from any Google Sheet you have access to, just by using its URL.

The syntax is: IMPORTRANGE("spreadsheet_url", "range_string")

spreadsheet_url: The full URL of the Google Sheet you're pulling data from. Copy and paste it right out of the address bar.
range_string: The sheet name and cell range you want to import, like "Sheet1!A1:B10" or "Revenue!A:F".

Example: Let's say you have a master client list in one spreadsheet and you want to import their names and emails into your project management sheet.

=IMPORTRANGE("https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aBcDeFg_sampleURL_12345/edit", "Clients!A2:B")

The first time you use it, you'll see a #REF! error. Don't worry! Hover over the cell and click the "Allow access" button to connect the two sheets. After that, the data will flow in live.

Filtering Before You Move with QUERY

Sometimes you don't want all the data - you want specific pieces of it. The QUERY function is like having a SQL database inside your spreadsheet. It's incredibly powerful for moving, filtering, and reorganizing data all in one step.

Its basic structure is: QUERY(data, query, [headers])

Example: Let's use our "Sales Data" sheet again, which has columns for Date (A), Product (B), Region (C), and Amount (D). You want to move only the sales data from the "North" region to a new sheet.

=QUERY('Sales Data'!A:D, "SELECT * WHERE C = 'North'")

This formula tells Sheets to look at your data range, then select all columns (SELECT *) only for the rows where the value in Column C is "North".

Using Apps Script to Automate Moves

For complex or repetitive data moves, you can write a short script to handle it for you. This is more advanced, but it can automate workflows like moving "Completed" tasks from your to-do lists to an archive sheet automatically.

You can access the script editor via Extensions > Apps Script.

Here’s a simple script that copies all data from a sheet called "Source" to one called "Destination":

Final Thoughts

Mastering how to move data is foundational for unlocking the full potential of Google Sheets. What starts with a simple cut and paste can easily evolve into using functions like QUERY and IMPORTRANGE to build automated, dynamic dashboards that save you hours of manual reporting work every week.

As you get comfortable pulling data between different sheets, you'll soon find the next bottleneck: pulling data from different platforms. That's actually why we built Graphed. Instead of wrestling with CSV exports from Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, Shopify, and Salesforce just to get them into a spreadsheet, our tool connects directly to all your data sources. From there, you just ask questions in plain English, and our AI data analyst builds real-time dashboards for you instantly, without you having to touch a single cell.