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Work with data in cells, rows, and columns

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When your data are in the worksheet, you can edit individual observations in cells, find and replace values, and enter comments for cells. You can select cells, rows, and columns, then delete them and insert new ones, and more.

In This Topic

Select cells, rows, or columns

  • To select a block of cells, drag across the cells.
  • To select entire rows, drag across the row numbers.
  • To select entire columns, drag across the column numbers.
  • To select all the cells in the worksheet, choose Edit > Select All Cells, or press Ctrl+A.

Insert cells, rows, or columns

To insert one or more empty cells, rows, or columns, complete the following steps.

  1. Select one or more cells.
  2. Choose one of the following:
    • Right-click and choose Insert Cells: Inserts cells above the selection. The number of cells inserted is equal to the number of cells selected.
    • Right-click and choose Insert Rows: Inserts rows above the selection. The number of rows inserted is equal to the number of rows selected.
    • Right-click and choose Insert Columns: Inserts columns to the left of the selection. The number of columns inserted is equal to the number of columns selected.

Copy, cut, and paste data

When you cut data, the cells are deleted from the worksheet.

  1. Select the worksheet cells.
  2. Choose Edit > Copy Cells or Edit > Cut Cells.
  3. Select the cell or cells where you want to paste the data. If you select multiple cells, Minitab pastes data in all the cells that you select, repeating values as necessary.
  4. Choose Edit > Paste Cells.

Clear data

To erase the contents of cells without removing the cells, select the cells and do one of the following:

  • Choose Edit > Clear Cells.
  • Press the Delete key.
If the cells are at the end of a column, then Minitab clears the cells. However, if the cells are in the middle of a column, then Minitab indicates that values are missing. In a numeric or date/time column, Minitab enters missing value symbols *. In a text column, Minitab enters the word "Missing".

Delete rows

To delete rows directly in the worksheet, select the rows that you want to delete, right-click, then choose Delete Cells.

To delete a specified set of rows, complete the following steps.

  1. Choose Data > Delete Rows.
  2. In Rows to delete (eg, 1:4 12), specify the rows or range of rows to delete, using a colon (:) to indicate an inclusive range.
    For example, if you enter 1:4 7 8, Minitab deletes rows 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8.
  3. In Columns from which to delete these rows, enter the columns to delete the rows from.
  4. Click OK.

Delete columns, rows, or cells

  1. Select the columns, rows, or cells that you want to delete.
  2. Choose Edit > Delete Cells.

Permanently erase columns, constants, or matrices

To permanently erase columns, constants, or matrices from the active worksheet, choose Data > Erase Variables, then specify the variables that you want to erase.

Important

When you use Data > Erase Variables, you cannot undo the action. When you use Edit > Delete Cells, you can undo the action.

Display columns, constants, and matrices

To view column data, constants, and matrices that are stored with the current worksheet, choose Data > Display Data, then specify the items.

Enter a cell comment

A cell with a comment has a red triangle in the corner.

  • To enter a cell comment, click in the cell, right-click and choose Cell Properties > Comment.
  • To view the comment, hold the pointer over the red triangle.

Apply a format to cells

You can apply a format (such as light red shading and dark red text) to cells in a worksheet. To apply a format to cells, do one of the following:

  • To format cells, select the cells, right-click and choose Cell Properties, then choose a format, or choose Custom Formats. If you choose Custom Formats, select a Background color and a font Color and Style for the cell formatting.
  • To format cells in a column based on a condition, such as values greater than 50, select the cells, then right-click and choose Conditional Formatting.
  • To clear the format from the selected cells, right-click and choose Cell Properties > Clear Formats.

Find and replace values

You can search for and replace values in the worksheet. You can search for numeric, text, or date/time values, or search for any group of numeric or text strings.

Note

When you find and replace values, Minitab ignores hidden columns.

Find values in a worksheet

  1. Click in the worksheet, then right-click and choose Find.
  2. In Find what, enter a number, text, or date/time.
  3. Click Find Next. If you want to replace the current value with a different value, click Replace.
  4. Click Close when you are done.

Replace values in a worksheet

  1. Click in the worksheet, then right-click and choose Find and Replace > Replace.
  2. In Find what, enter a number, text, or date/time string.
  3. In Replace with, enter a new number, text, or date/time string.
  4. Click Find Next. When you find the value you are looking for, you can click Replace to replace the string and find the next occurrence.
  5. To find and replace all occurrences of the number, text, or date/time string, click Replace All.
  6. Click Close when you are done.

Find formatted cells and replace values

Search for cells in the worksheet that have a specified format and update the values in those cells.

Find formatted cells in a worksheet

  1. Click in the worksheet, then right-click and choose Find and Replace > Find Format.
  2. From Find style, select the cell format to search for.
  3. Click Find Next. If you want to replace the current value with a different value, click the Replace tab.
  4. Click Close when you are done.

Replace values in formatted cells

  1. Click in the worksheet, then right-click and choose Find and Replace > Replace Formatted Cell Value.
  2. From Find style, select the cell format to search for.
  3. In Replace cell with value, specify the new value.
  4. Click Find Next. Click Replace to replace the value and find the next occurrence of the format.
  5. To find and replace the values in all cells with the specified format, click Replace All.
  6. Click Close when you are done.
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