Select and Copy only Non-Blank Ranges in Excel

Sometimes we get data in Excel from External sources. These data may not be in an ordered format, they may contain blank rows that you don't need. In that case, you first try to delete the blank rows. That is one approach. You can do that too. But the best way is to copy the data in a separate excel file or sheet and leave the source data intact. You may need it later to check the original data.

So, how do we retain only non-blank cells/ranges in Excel? There are two approaches I take.

1. Select and Copy only the non-blank range using Go To Special
2. Select and Copy only the Non-blank using Filter

Let's see the first method

Select and Copy only the non-blank range using Go To Special

Here, I have sample data in Excel. It has some blank rows. I want to copy only the non-blank cells to a new sheet. For that, I have to first select those non-blank cells and then copy it.  To do so, I will use the Go To Special option. Follow these steps:

1. First, select the entire range.
2. Press CTRL+G shortcut to open the Go To Dialog box.
3. At the bottom of the dialog, you can see the "Special" button. It is really special. Click on it. You can press ALT+s key, while the dialog is visible, to open the special options.
4. Now from the available options, select the Constants and Hit Ok. You can see that only cells that have visible values are selected.
5. Now use CTRL+C to copy the selected range. Go to the workbook or sheet where you want to copy this data.

Now you wave the data without blank records.

Note: If you have selected only one cell while using go to special method, it will select all the cells that are not blank the entire sheet. This may prevent the copying of data.

Select And Copy Only The Non-blank Using Filter

Another method to copy non-empty ranges in a table is to use the filter. Let's use the above data to do the same.

Follow these steps:

1. Select the entire range that contains data. Now use apply the filter using CTRL+SHIFT+L.
2. Click on the dropdown and unselect the (blanks). Hit Enter.
3. Now You can see the ranges that contain something in the row. All the blank ranges are hidden. Select this filtered data. (Use Alt+; a shortcut to ensure the visible selection. Any hidden row will be excluded).
4. Hit CTRL+C shortcut key to copy the visible range.
5. Now go to the sheet where you want to paste and past it using CTRL+V. It will be copied to the range.

That's it. This how you can copy non-empty ranges to new sheets in excel. If you have any doubts regarding this topic or any other Excel/VBA  related query, ask in the comments section below.

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