Insert, Remove or Clear Cells in Calligra Sheets

An empty cell and a removed cell are different outcomes. Clear an incorrect quantity when its record must stay in place. Remove a whole row when the record itself must go. Insert or remove individual cells only when you deliberately want part of the grid to shift.

Scope and a safe starting point

This guide reviews the official Calligra Sheets 26.08.2 source and English menu labels for a Linux/KDE-oriented desktop workflow. The KDE handbook is revision 2.7 from March 11, 2013; its KF6 address is not evidence of a current application test. Calligra is free and open-source software. No native run, screenshot or successful save/reopen is claimed here. The numbers below are independently calculated acceptance targets.

Use an empty, unprotected worksheet with no merged cells, filters, hidden rows or charts. Save a disposable .ods workbook as editing-base.ods, then use File → Save As… to make editing-working.ods. For each independent experiment below, reopen the unchanged base and make a new working copy. Do not let one experiment silently become the starting point for the next.

Enter these cells individually, including the headers:

Cell	Entry	Cell	Entry
A1	Item	B1	Quantity
A2	Bolts	B2	12
A3	Washers	B3	18
A4	Screws	B4	9
D1	Watched quantity	D2	=B3
E1	Total quantity	E2	=SUM(B2:B4)
F3	Outside-table witness

D2 should show 18 and E2 39. Widen columns to read the labels. Make B3 bold using Format → Cell Format… → Font, set Weight to Bold, then choose Set Cell Format. Save the base with this formatting and the formulas intact.

Choose the right operation

Goal	Command in the reviewed source	What to inspect afterwards
Erase an entry but keep its place and formatting	Edit → Clear → Clear Contents	Same cell addresses and neighboring records
Erase a cell’s content and formatting	Edit → Clear → Clear All	Content and formatting reset; no gap closed
Make space within part of the grid	Insert → Insert Cells…	Direction and the cells that moved
Close a gap within part of the grid	Edit → Delete → Remove Cells…	Direction and record alignment
Add or remove a complete record row	Insert → Insert Rows; Edit → Delete → Remove Rows	Entire row, including cells outside the table

The old handbook calls the row command “Delete Rows”; the reviewed 26.08.2 action is Remove Rows. Use menu labels rather than assuming the keyboard Delete key means structural removal. If your installation differs, stop and check its version before using a substitute command.

Clear an entry without shifting its neighbors

On a fresh working copy, select B3 only, then choose Edit → Clear → Clear Contents.

• B3 should be empty but retain its bold formatting. A3 must still say Washers, B4 must still be 9 and F3 must stay at F3.
• Inspect D2’s formula: it must still reference B3, not B4. An empty input is not an instruction to watch the next record instead.
• E2’s formula must remain =SUM(B2:B4). Its expected total is now 21, from 12 + 9.
• Re-enter 18 in B3. E2 should return to 39, with B3 still bold.

Now, still selecting B3 only, choose Edit → Clear → Clear All. B3 should be empty and its direct bold formatting reset. The surrounding addresses must remain unchanged. Re-enter 18 to inspect its appearance and the restored total. Clearing a formula cell also erases the formula: do not select D2 or E2 when your intention is to reset just the quantity input.

Clear All is broader than Clear Contents. The source also resets cell conditions and validation. Selecting a whole row or column can reset row/column formatting too. It is not the safe default for clearing inputs in a reusable model.

Insert a whole record row

Start again from the saved base.

1. Click row header 3 to select the whole row, then choose Insert → Insert Rows. One selected row means one inserted row at that position.
2. Check that Washers/18 moved to A4:B4 and Screws/9 to A5:B5. The outside-table witness must have moved from F3 to F4. Row 3 is now available for a new record.
3. Inspect D2: its reference should now point to B4, keeping the watched quantity at 18. E2 should cover B2:B5, still totaling 39. Inspect formula text as well as displayed values.
4. Enter A3=Clips and B3=6. E2 should become 45. Do not assume the new row inherited the exact formatting you want; inspect it separately.
5. To remove just the newly added record, select row header 3, then choose Edit → Delete → Remove Rows. Washers/18 should return to row 3, Screws/9 to row 4 and the witness to F3. Check D2 again points to B3 and E2 totals 39.

A formula’s dollar signs do not make a referenced record immune to structural editing. Structural reference adjustment is different from relative-reference adjustment when copying a formula.

Remove an existing row and inspect the lost reference

On another fresh copy of the base, select row header 3 and choose Edit → Delete → Remove Rows. The Washers record and F3’s witness are removed, while Screws/9 moves to row 3. E2’s remaining total should be 21.

D2 was a direct reference to the removed quantity. Do not expect it to become a reference to Screws merely because Screws now occupies B3. The reviewed source replaces a fully removed reference with a dependency-error token (#Dependency! in English). Treat an error here as a missing dependency to resolve, not as permission to replace the formula with zero. The exact displayed error remains a native check for your build.

Use Edit → Undo immediately if the removal was accidental, then verify the record, witness and formulas. If the file was closed or the history is uncertain, recover a new working copy from the base instead. Reinserting an empty row cannot recreate its deleted values.

Shift cells without shifting the entire row

Start from the base again. Select A3:B3, not row header 3. Choose Insert → Insert Cells…, explicitly select Move towards bottom, then choose OK. The dialog defaults to moving right, so accepting the default would perform a different operation.

The two-column record should move to A4:B4, with Screws/9 at A5:B5. F3 must stay at F3, unlike the whole-row insertion. Inspect D2’s reference to the moved quantity and E2’s total before continuing. To reverse this particular blank insertion, select the empty A3:B3 and choose Edit → Delete → Remove Cells… → Move towards top → OK. Check all original records and the witness against the base.

Selecting B3 alone instead would shift quantities without shifting the item labels. That can leave a plausible-looking but incorrect table. Select the complete record width when a partial-grid shift is genuinely intended. In a sheet with unrelated tables, inspect their formulas too; a correct total in this small practice table does not certify every affected reference.

For horizontal shifts, the corresponding dialog options are Move towards right on insertion and Move towards left on removal. They affect the selected row span, rather than moving every row in a column. For a whole column, use the dedicated Insert → Insert Columns or Edit → Delete → Remove Columns action after selecting its column header.

Do not use the cell dialog’s Insert columns or Remove columns option in this exercise. The reviewed 26.08.2 source checks the rows radio button in its column-choice accessor. This is a source-level defect finding, not an observed runtime result; the dedicated column actions use a separate path.

Finish and troubleshoot

Save the intended final working copy under a distinct name. Close and reopen it locally, then inspect the record labels, quantities, witness address and formula text, not just the totals. This persistence check is still required in the native application.

• The wrong direction was used: undo before entering more data. Re-select the exact range and explicitly choose the direction.
• Unrelated content moved or disappeared: a whole-row/column action affects content outside your table. Restore the base rather than rebuilding only the visible table.
• A formula still displays a plausible total: compare its range and watched record. Correct arithmetic cannot prove that labels and quantities still belong together.
• The operation is unavailable: check selection type and sheet protection. A selected whole column disables the dedicated row action, and vice versa, in the reviewed source. Do not remove protection from an unfamiliar workbook just to continue this exercise.
• You only wanted to hide records: use hide and restore rows and columns instead. For appearance changes without deletion, use cell formatting and styles.

Sources and verification boundary

• KDE handbook: Insert and Delete supplies the distinction between clearing content, removing cells and structural insertion.
• Official Calligra 26.08.2 source archive: sheets/part/calligrasheets.rc and sheets/ui/actions/Cells.cpp, Clear.cpp, AdjustRowCol.cpp establish menu/action labels and command dispatch. sheets/ui/actions/dialogs/InsertDialog.cpp establishes direction labels, default direction and the column-choice caveat.
• In the same archive, sheets/ui/commands/DataManipulators.cpp, RowColumnManipulators.cpp, sheets/core/Sheet.cpp and sheets/engine/SheetBase.cpp supply the shift paths and formula-reference changes. These are source checks, not native execution or compatibility certification.

This guide does not validate merged cells, named ranges, cross-sheet models, charts, external links or other applications. No downloadable native workbook or screenshot is represented as tested evidence.