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How do you remove blank rows from many Excel files at once on a Mac?

By Kayabyte · Last updated 11 November 2026

In Excel for Mac you can select a column, use Go To Special, Blanks, and delete the sheet rows, one sheet at a time. The catch is that this removes every row where that one column is blank, even if other columns have data. For a folder of workbooks, Gridhand’s Clean tool has an “Empty rows and columns” step that removes empty rows and columns in every file, with a preview first. It takes .xlsx and .xlsm files only.

The manual way in Excel for Mac

  1. Select the range or columns that hold your data.
  2. Use Edit, Go To, Special, Blanks. Excel selects every blank cell in the range.
  3. On the Home tab choose Delete, then Delete Sheet Rows. Microsoft’s page on inserting and deleting rows and columns describes Home, Delete, Delete Sheet Rows, and says the rows below shift up (checked 11 November 2026).

The risk is in step 2. If one column has a blank where the others have values, that whole row is deleted. To delete only rows that are blank all the way across, add a helper column with =COUNTA(A2:Z2)=0 (adjust the range), filter for TRUE and delete those rows, or filter on a column that is always filled. Menu paths can differ between Excel versions on a Mac, so check them in your own Excel.

Do this for every sheet in every file and it is easy to miss one or to hit a row that mattered.

What Gridhand can do here

Gridhand is a Mac app we make for batch jobs on Excel files. Its Clean tool has an “Empty rows and columns” step: empty rows and columns are removed, and formulas, charts and named ranges that pointed past them are adjusted. The step works on a whole folder of workbooks in one run.

Things to know:

Steps with Gridhand

  1. Drop the workbooks, or a folder, onto the Gridhand window.
  2. Choose Clean and tick “Empty rows and columns”. Leave the other steps off if you only want this one.
  3. Read the preview and the counts.
  4. Choose an output folder and press Run (Cmd-R).
  5. Read the report, especially the notes marked “Check these”, and open one result next to the original.

Your first 2 runs are free, each on up to 2 input files; previews are always free. Gridhand Pro is USD 49 once, for 2 Macs, with one year of updates and a 30-day refund. Download Gridhand · Pricing

Questions

Will it delete a row that has data in only one column? The step removes empty rows and columns. It is not a “delete where this column is blank” filter, which is the risky manual method above.

Will my formulas break? Formulas, charts and named ranges that pointed past removed rows or columns are adjusted. Position-based lookups such as INDIRECT are not, so check them.

Does it change the originals? No. Cleaned copies are written to the folder you choose.

What about a workbook with a pivot table? Clean removes no rows or columns there, and the report tells you.

Microsoft and Excel are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Gridhand is made by Kayabyte and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft.