---
title: "How to: Add Spacer Rows and Columns to Universal Reports in Planning Analytics for Excel (PAfE)"
description: "If you are using PAfE 2.1.12 or later, you may notice that the **context menu in Excel does not provide the option to add spacer rows or columns** directly. To add spacers, follow these steps: 1. **Open your view in…"
url: "https://www.aramar.co.uk/knowledge-share/ibm-planning-analytics/how-to-add-spacer-rows-and-columns-to-universal-reports-in-planning-analytics-for-excel-pafe/"
updated: "2025-09-15"
category: IBM Planning Analytics
---

# How to: Add Spacer Rows and Columns to Universal Reports in Planning Analytics for Excel (PAfE)

If you are using PAfE 2.1.12 or later, you may notice that the **context menu in Excel does not provide the option to add spacer rows or columns** directly.

To add spacers, follow these steps:

1. **Open your view in the Viewer**

   - Instead of adding the view straight to Excel, first open it in the PAfE Viewer.
2. **Add your spacer**

   - In the Viewer, use the menu options to insert spacer rows or columns where needed.
   - ![](https://www.aramar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/375ef19a1ac549098028ad66024bbe7f.png)
3. **Export to Excel**

   - Once your spacers are in place, use the menu option to send the view to Excel as a **Universal Report**.
   - ![](https://www.aramar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ac47ff3a70ad4aa7bbd556bb94759c0d.png)

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#### Troubleshooting

- If you don’t see the option to add a spacer, check that you are **working in the Viewer** and not already inside a Universal Report in Excel.
- The spacer option only appears at the **view level** before exporting to Excel.