In Excel: click the column letter to select the whole column and press Ctrl+− (Ctrl and minus), or right-click the header ▸ Delete.
On this page7
Click the column letter so the entire column is selected — not just some cells in it.
Press Ctrl+− (Ctrl and the minus key), or right-click the header and choose Delete.
For several columns, Ctrl-click each header first, then delete them in one action.
For a contiguous run, click the first header and Shift+click the last.
To remove empty columns, select the header row, press F5 ▸ Special ▸ Blanks, then Home ▸ Delete ▸ Delete Sheet Columns.
To hide rather than remove, right-click the header ▸ Hide — no formula anywhere breaks.
What this does
Deleting a column removes it and shifts everything to its right one place left, which is what breaks formulas elsewhere: any reference to the deleted column becomes #REF!. Selecting by the column letter matters — with only a few cells selected, Ctrl+− opens the Delete dialog and asks whether to shift cells left or up, and picking wrong scrambles the row alignment. Non-adjacent columns can go in one action: Ctrl-click each header, then delete. And "delete all the empty columns" is a Go To Special job rather than a manual hunt. The same idea underpins a lot of everyday Excel work, so the few minutes spent getting it right here pay back across every sheet you build afterwards. Treat it as a pattern, not a one-off, and it stops being something you look up and starts being something you reach for. For “deleting a column in excel”, the reliable version is a short checking loop, not just the first command that appears to work. Run it on a deliberately small range first, watch how the affected columns change, and only then apply the same setup to the full sheet. When this is a ribbon command, the selection matters more than the button: confirm the range, apply the command, then spot-check the output before saving. That is what makes a layout choice that keeps the sheet readable and sortable useful in real work: repeatable, auditable, and not dependent on memory or luck.
A worked example
To delete columns C and F together, click the C header, hold Ctrl and click the F header, then press Ctrl+−. Both go and columns D, E, G shift left. If Summary!B2 held =SUM(Sheet1!C:C), it now reads =SUM(Sheet1!#REF!). To remove empty columns across A1:Z1: select that row, press F5 ▸ Special ▸ Blanks ▸ OK, then Home ▸ Delete ▸ Delete Sheet Columns. Imported data always carries columns nobody needs, and doing it by the header rather than by cells is what keeps the remaining rows aligned. When the result is not what you expected, undo straight away rather than repairing it by hand — undo restores the sheet exactly, while manual fixes tend to leave small inconsistencies behind that surface later.
In Google Sheets
This is a command rather than a formula, so there is no syntax to carry over. Google Sheets arranges its commands in menus across the top instead of a ribbon, names some of them differently and does not have every Excel command — look for the equivalent in the Sheets menus or its help before assuming the steps match. Nothing on this page is behind a login or a download: the exact answer is at the top, and the detail below it is there for when you need it. That is the whole promise here — the answer first, and just enough context to make it stick. Here is the takeaway for “deleting a column in excel”: follow the steps at the top, check the result on the sheet itself, and keep undo in mind while you experiment. Done once deliberately, it becomes something you do from memory in Excel rather than something you search for again.
Common mistakes
- Deleting a column that formulas elsewhere reference and leaving
#REF!behind — press Ctrl+Z immediately if you see them appear. - Selecting cells rather than the whole column, then choosing the wrong shift direction in the Delete dialog and misaligning every row.
- Confusing Delete with Clear: Delete removes the column and shifts, Clear Contents empties it and leaves the structure alone.
- Deleting a column a PivotTable or chart uses as its source, which breaks both.
- Removing a column when hiding it would have preserved every reference.
Frequently asked questions
How do I delete a column in Excel?
Click the column letter to select it and press Ctrl+− (Ctrl and minus), or right-click the header and choose Delete.
How do I delete several columns at once?
Ctrl-click each column header to select them — they do not have to be adjacent — then press Ctrl+− once.
How do I delete all the blank columns?
Select the header row, press F5 ▸ Special ▸ Blanks ▸ OK, then use Home ▸ Delete ▸ Delete Sheet Columns.
Why do I get #REF! after deleting a column?
A formula somewhere referenced the deleted column and now points at nothing. Undo with Ctrl+Z, then repoint those formulas — or hide the column instead of deleting it.