The Easy Way to Add and Delete Symbols in an Excel Flowchart

Where's the pain?

In some respects, software is designed to relieve the pain. When I think of flowcharting in Excel, the biggest pain comes when trying to edit a flowchart that has already been created. When you want to delete or insert a shape, the biggest pain comes from having to re-arrange all the effected shapes.

Flowchart Editing Time Saver

Here's the time saving trick: Don't move the shapes – move the cells instead.

That may sound odd, so let me give you an example. By default, Excel flowchart symbols move with the worksheet cells when cells are inserted or deleted. So let's say you decide to delete a flowchart shape. Instead of moving all the other shapes to fill the gap, delete the cells where the deleted shape used to be. That will cause all the other shapes to shift position.

Single Column Flowcharts

If you have a single column flowchart, the easiest way to move a large block of shapes up or down is by deleting or inserting rows, respectively. For flowcharts with a landscape perspective, delete columns instead of rows.

To insert or delete rows, highlight the rows with your mouse and right-click over the row labels. Then, select Insert or Delete from the menu, as needed. Be careful, though, because if you delete a row that contains a shape, you may think that the shape has been deleted. However, there's a good chance that you just shrunk the flowchart shape's height to 0. Therefore, you should always delete shapes prior to deleting rows or columns – don't try to have the row or column delete do it for you.

Multi-Column Flowcharts

If you have a multi-column flowchart and only want to shift one column, then the easiest way to move them is by inserting or deleting cells.

To insert or delete cells, highlight a range of cells equal in height and width to the distance you want the shapes shifted. Right-click on the range of cells and click Insert or Delete, as needed. A little window will prompt you whether to want to move cells or rows or columns. The key is to make sure that the range of cells selected is as wide as or tall as the shapes you want moved.

Video: Flowchart Editing Example

A simple example of deleting cells to shift shapes is shown near the end of the Flowtorial at Generating Flowcharts from Microsoft Word.

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About the Author

When he's not writing newsletters, Nick Hebb runs BreezeTree Software, maker of FlowBreeze Excel Flowchart Add-In - a program that lets you make flowcharts just by typing text.