How to delete multiple excel sheets at once

Answer

To delete multiple Excel sheets at once, select the sheets you want to remove, confirm the deletion prompt, and execute the delete command.

Windows Method

1. Hold Ctrl on your keyboard.

2. Click each sheet tab you want to delete.
   Excel highlights the selected sheet tabs in a grouped state.

3. Right-click one of the selected tabs.

4. Select Delete.

5. Confirm the deletion in the dialog box.

Mac Method

1. Hold Command (⌘).

2. Click each sheet tab you want to delete.

3. Right-click any selected sheet tab.

4. Select Delete.

5. Confirm the deletion.

How to delete consecutive sheets using group selection

To delete consecutive sheets, group them using Shift selection and then delete them at once.

Steps for Windows and Mac

1. Click the first sheet tab in the range.

2. Hold Shift.

3. Click the last sheet tab in the range.
   Excel groups all sheets between the first and last selection.

4. Right-click any sheet tab in the selection.

5. Select Delete.

6. Confirm the deletion dialog.

How to remove all sheets except one

To remove every sheet except one, group all sheets except the sheet you want to keep and delete them.

Steps

1. Hold Ctrl (Windows) or Command (⌘) (Mac).

2. Click each sheet tab except the one you want to keep.

3. Right-click any selected tab.

4. Select Delete.

5. Confirm the deletion dialog.

What happens when deleting sheets that contain data?

Excel removes all data, charts, tables, pivot tables, shapes, and formatting stored in the deleted sheets. Excel does not allow recovery after confirming deletion unless a user performs an immediate Undo (Ctrl+Z / Command+Z) before saving the workbook.

How to protect sheets from accidental deletion

1. Go to the Review tab.

2. Select Protect Workbook.

3. Create a password if needed.

4. Lock the structure.
   Excel blocks sheet deletion until protection is removed.

How to check for hidden sheets before deleting

1. Right-click any sheet tab.

2. Select Unhide.

3. Review the list of hidden sheets.

4. Unhide any sheet that must be reviewed before deletion.

5. Delete only the sheets that meet your requirement.

How to delete sheets using the Ribbon

The sheet tab method is faster, but the Ribbon method still works.

Steps

1. Select multiple sheets using Ctrl, Command, or Shift.

2. Go to the Home tab.

3. Open Delete in the Cells group.

4. Select Delete Sheet.

5. Confirm the prompt.

How to delete sheets with VBA for large workbooks

To delete dozens or hundreds of sheets, VBA provides automation.

Steps

1. Press Alt + F11 to open the VBA Editor.

2. Select Insert > Module.

3. Paste the code:

   Sub DeleteSelectedSheets()

       Application.DisplayAlerts = False

       Dim ws As Worksheet

       For Each ws In ActiveWindow.SelectedSheets

           ws.Delete

       Next ws

       Application.DisplayAlerts = True

   End Sub

4. Close the editor.

5. Select the sheets to delete.

6. Run the macro from Developer > Macros.

Excel suppresses confirmation prompts due to DisplayAlerts = False.

Best Practices

1. Duplicate the workbook before bulk deletion to avoid irreversible loss.

2. Review hidden sheets and protected sheets.

3. Verify formulas linked to deleted sheets because missing sheet references return #REF! errors.

4. Confirm workbook dependencies when handling shared files.

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