Lesson 12 of 104 4 min Updated Completed

How to Transpose Data in Excel

Transposing turns rows into columns, or columns into rows. There are two ways to do it: a quick one-time copy with Paste Special, or the TRANSPOSE function, which keeps updating when the original data changes.

Method 1: Paste Special

  1. Select the column you want to turn into a row, here B2:B8.

  2. Right-click and click Copy.

    Copying the range B2:B8

  3. Right-click cell B10 and click Paste Special.

  4. In the Paste Special dialog box, tick Transpose.

    Ticking Transpose in the Paste Special dialog box

  5. Click OK.

    The column pasted as a row

The pasted data is a fixed copy: if you change the original cells, it won’t update.

Method 2: the TRANSPOSE function

The TRANSPOSE function creates a live link, so the result changes whenever the original data does.

  1. Select the cells for the result, here B3:B8 (6 cells, one for each value in the row).

    Selecting B3:B8 for the transposed result

  2. Type =TRANSPOSE(

  3. Select the original row, C2:H2, and type the closing parenthesis ).

    Typing the TRANSPOSE formula with the range C2:H2

  4. Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter.

    The row transposed into a column with the TRANSPOSE function

Note: In older versions of Excel the formula shows curly braces, {=TRANSPOSE(C2:H2)}, meaning it’s an array formula. In Microsoft 365 you can simply type =TRANSPOSE(C2:H2) in the first cell and press Enter: the result spills into the cells below by itself.

Transpose data with blank cells

  1. Cell E2 is empty. TRANSPOSE turns the empty cell into a 0.

    TRANSPOSE showing 0 for the empty cell E2

  2. To keep it blank instead, wrap the range in an IF function:

    =TRANSPOSE(IF(C2:H2="", "", C2:H2))

    TRANSPOSE with IF keeping the empty cell blank