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. Most people learn this as a sequence of clicks and forget it by next week; learning it as a pattern instead is what lets you apply it to the next, slightly different version of the problem without starting from scratch. That is the difference this page is trying to make. For “delete columns 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. If this is something you do often, add the command to the Quick Access Toolbar (right-click it on the ribbon and choose Add to Quick Access Toolbar) or learn its shortcut, so next time it is one click instead of a hunt through the menus.
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. The aim was to get you unstuck fast and leave you a little more capable than a copy-paste would. The answer is at the top and the detail above shows why it holds — so the next time a colleague asks, you can answer without reaching for search. If you take one thing from this page on “delete columns in excel”, make it the order of checks rather than the individual clicks: confirm what is selected, apply the step, and look at the result before moving on. That small routine is what keeps Excel work predictable when the same task comes back in a slightly different workbook.
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.
Other ways people ask this
This is also commonly searched as “how to delete a column in excel”, “how do i delete a column in excel”, “how do i delete columns in excel” and “how do you delete a column in excel”. They describe the identical operation, so you are in the right place no matter how you phrased it.
Why do people search for this in so many different ways?
Because the same task has many names. “how to delete a column in excel”, “how do i delete a column in excel”, “how do i delete columns in excel” all point at the one operation explained on this page, which is why they all lead here.