Excel Row and Column Limit

This is an overview of Excel row and column limit.

Overview of Excel row and column limit

Download Practice Workbook

Limit Row and Column.xlsx

Tip 1 – Use the Context Menu to Limit Excel Rows and Columns

Select a column (F).
Press CTRL+SHIFT+Right arrow(→) to select all the columns in the workbook starting from the selected one.

Using keyboard shortcut to select all columns

Right-click to open the Context Menu.
Select Hide.

Select a row (15).
Press CTRL+SHIFT+Down Arrow(↓) to select all the rows downwards.

Using keyboard shortcut to select all rows

In the Context Menu, choose Hide.

This is the output.

Final output limiting row and column in Excel

Tip 2 – Apply the Format Feature to Limit Excel Rows and Columns

Select a column and press CTRL+SHIFT+Right Arrow(→) to select all columns.
Click Hide Columns in Format.

Using Format feature to hide selected columns

Select all the rows by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+Down Arrow(↓).
Choose Hide Rows in the Home tab.

Using format feature to hide rows in Excel

This is the output.

Final output with limiting row and column in Excel

Tip 3 – Use the VBA Properties to Limit Excel Rows and Columns

Open the VBA window by right-clicking the sheet name
Enter a cell range in the Scroll Area to lock the cell range.

What Happens When Excel Loads More than One Million Rows?

Data is lost. To handle larger datasets, use Microsoft Power BI or database management systems.

How to Overcome Row Limit in Excel?

To combine data from another workbook, go the Data tab.
Click Get Data>>From File>>From ExcelWorkbook.

Visiting Data tab to import data from another source

Select a file and press Import.

Selecting a new worksheet to import data

In the Power Query editor, choose Load to in Navigator.

Selecting Load to option to import data using power query

Choose PivotTable Report to quickly create a pivot table.
Check Add this data to the Data_Model.

With the PivotTable Report you can handle more than 1M rows by using filters.

Selection of PivotTable Report to import data as report

You can also choose Only Create Connection to deal with multiple sheets that have 1M rows.

Choosing Only Create Connection to make connections only

In the right pane, double-click the query to open it.

Double clicking to open the queries with data

Import data from multiple worksheets and handle them in Power Query.

Final result power query to overcome row limit in Excel

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the maximum number of rows and columns in Excel?

Answer: The maximum number of rows in Excel is 1,048,576 and the maximum number of columns is 16,384.

2. Can I combine multiple Excel files to handle more data?

Answer: Yes, you can combine multiple Excel files using tools like the Power Query or formulas like VLOOKUP or INDEX-MATCH.