LO 6.3 Calc: Move multiple rows by cutting & insert cutted cells

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#1

LO: 6.3

Suppose you have in Calc a sheet:

  • with row 1 to 20 filled with data; for ease of clarity fill column A with 1 to 20 as you go with the rows.
  • and desire to move rows 4 to 6 below lines 15.

Traditionnaly, in MS-Excel:

  1. you select rows 4-6, then CTRL-X to cut them,
  2. then on line 16 do a right-click and select the menu “insert cut cells”.
  3. DONE

In Calc I can:

  1. I can CTRL-X the rows 4-6
  2. on line 16 make a special paste
    with CtRL+MAJ+V
  3. In the paste special menu, select
    the option “Shift Cells” choose
    option “down” and be sure
    that ALL other options are
    correct as it is a paste special.
  4. then delete the empty rows
    4-6

DONE

In Calc, this is way more cubbersome, no better way? Feature request for LO6.4 or later?

OF course same applies to columns

P.S. In Tools>Personnalize>Menus
I haven’t found any command such as “insert cut cells”

#2

I would strongly support this function. Although Calc is already better than Excel in quite some respects, ‘insert cut sells’ is what I keep on missing in Calc

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#3

I also miss this (and pretty much only this) from Excel

2 Likes
#5

There’s a bug report (with additional information) on https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=39936 . Anyone can add himself to the CC List, too (to receive information, also with a bigger CC list the issue will look as important as it is)

#7

It’s utterly ridiculous that LibreOffice doesn’t implement the SIMPLE and intuitive solution Excel uses of simply cutting some rows, then right-click and “Insert Cut Rows”. The Alt+drag is fine, but 1) it’s not intuitive, 2) no one knows it until after searching it online (and I almost missed it even reading through most of this page), and 3) it is particularly problematic when trying to move rows quite a distance…it’s particularly easy to accidentally drop it in the wrong spot, and difficult when dragging dozens (or hundreds) of rows away from where the rows were in the first place. I don’t understand who at LibreOffice is opposing this when it’s one of the BIGGEST frustrations for new users who are trying LibreOffice and considering it as their new alternative to Excel, and when they run into this ridiculously bad lack of BASIC functionality they uninstall LibreOffice and either keep looking for a different/better alternative or they simply go back to Excel. Is it a pride thing? Is someone just so dead set on not being “too Excel-like” that they simply refuse to implement this superior feature? I don’t get it.

LibreOffice.org…PLEASE TAKE NOTE!!!

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#8

You also missed the bit about adding yourself to the CC list for the bug report. The bug report is seen by developers; here we are users.

Volunteer developers work on what interests them. You are welcome to pay someone to develop the capability :slight_smile:

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#9

I’m a brand new user and within the first few minutes of playing around with it I ran into this disappointment. I used that feature all the time in excel. I’m not thrilled about the dragging and dropping method either. Give me a right click any time!! I’m also missing the ‘repeat last function’ F4 which I used constantly in word and excel.

#10

It is Edit > Repeat (Ctrl+Shift+Y). You can customise the keyboard shortcut if you want, Tools > Customise > Keyboard. More info in the Calc Guide, download from English documentation | LibreOffice Documentation - LibreOffice User Guides

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#12

So the primary reason volunteers contribute their time to LibreOffice is for themselves? Sorry, that doesn’t jibe with what is stated on LibreOffice.com > About us > Who we are (see below for reference). They clearly are trying to make a product that works better for everyone, not just for themselves. And since the inability to move rows and cells by cutting & inserting the cut cells is one of the first problems most new users run into, and is a complaint that keeps coming up again and again (and one of the biggest reasons new users get turned off and abandon LibreOffice) is this lack of functionality, then it’s not a stretch at all to think the developers would 1) pay attention to user feedback (not just their own limited personal experiences), and 2) respond to users’ most frequent frustrations.

Also, it’s not helpful or decent of you to add the snide comment about me paying someone to develop the capability. I’m trying to keep food on the table, a roof over our head, and our cars running, which is part-and-parcel of why I don’t want to pay for MS Office on every old computer we own. So other than jabbing at me, that comment helps no one.

FROM THE WEBSITE:

" We seek to eliminate the digital divide and empower all as full citizens, support the preservation of mother tongues, and avoid proprietary software and format lock-in. We work to attain our goals by

  • providing unfettered access to our office productivity tools at no cost
  • encouraging the translation, documentation, and maintenance of our software in one’s own language
  • promoting and actively participating in the creation and development of open standards and Free Software via open and transparent peer-review processes

Though the members of our community hail from many different backgrounds, we all value personal choice and transparency, which translates practically into wider compatibility, more utility, and no end-user lock-in to a single product. We believe that Free Software can provide better quality, higher reliability, increased security, and greater flexibility than proprietary alternatives."

#13

It wasn’t a snide comment, companies do pay developers to add functionality that they need. It is less usual for individuals to pay but I have seen people offer to pay to add a feature from time to time on this site.

As I understand it, there is a discussion group that sets priorities; this proposed functionality is unlikely to have a high priority for most people compared to other bugs or enhancements. There are other ways to do the same job

If it has a particularly high priority for you, then hope that a volunteer wants to work on it or, somehow, make it more interesting to work on. Remember, you cannot force volunteers to do something, only encourage.

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#14

Thank you for that information. Can you give me step by step instructions on how to create the keyboard shortcut for this action for the F4 key? Will it be transferable to the word version (writer document)? Thank you.

#15

On my unmodified version of Excel, the F4 key cycles absolute and relative reference, e.g. A1 > $A$1 > A$1 > $A1 > A1. F4 in Calc cycles absolute and relative references too; in Writer it is Image Properties so the key is already taken.

I try to customise as little as possible as it makes it easier transferring to different computers. Remember also that LibreOffice is not a copy or clone of Microsoft Office; there are differences in functionality and both programmes have different strengths and weaknesses compared with the other. If you really want to work the way Excel does then simply buy Microsoft Office.

For both Calc and Writer Ctrl+Shift+Y is Repeat. Shift+F7 looks free in both programmes, so start from Calc

  1. Click Tools > Customise
  2. In the dialogue that opens, select the Keyboard tab.
  3. In the Functions field where it says “Type to search” enter Repeat
  4. In the Function pane select Repeat
  5. In the Shortcut Keys pane select Shift+F7
  6. Press the button Assign and OK out.
  7. Repeat the process for Writer.
#16

Thank you. Would you happen to know if insert cut/copied cells is possible in libreoffice calc spreadsheet?

#17

We already know Alt+drag to move cells to above the target cell.

  • Alt+Ctrl+drag copies cells to above the target cell
  • Copy or cut cells and right click target cell, select Paste Special > Paste Special > [Shift Cells] Down (or Right if needed)

But no Insert Cells menu item, see @ganton link above LO 6.3 Calc: Move multiple rows by cutting & insert cutted cells - #5 by ganton

#4

You can drag the rows and drop them while holding Alt.

And allow me to reorder your algorithm to make it a bit efficient:

  1. Ctrl+X: to cut the rows 4-6
  2. Ctrl+-: to delete the empty rows 4-6
  3. Insert (or Ctrl+Shift+V): on line 16 to open the special paste dialog
  4. Alt+W (be sure that ALL other options are correct as it is a paste special) and Enter: to select the Down option for “Shift Cells” and paste.

Tested with LibreOffice 6.4.7.2 (x86); OS: Windows 6.1.

2 Likes
#6

Thank you so much for this! Just logged in to upvote your answer and say that dragging and dropping while holding Alt is very, very nice and simple!

2 Likes
#18

Alternative:

  • Select source
  • Hold Ctrl and press X (Cut) , -, Enter (Delete Cells)
  • Select first cell of target
  • Hold Ctrl and press V (Paste), Z (Undo), +, Enter (Insert Cells), V (Paste)
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