Excel is well known for its many tabs, groups, and menus on its ribbon. As a result, it can be difficult to find exactly what you’re looking for. As a daily Excel user, I’ve become accustomed to using various keyboard shortcuts that allow me to work much more efficiently.
Switching between your mouse and keyboard can become tiresome, and overusing your mouse can lead to “mouse pain” in your shoulder. So, learning how to make better use of your keyboard not only helps you to centralize and stabilize your posture, but it can also speed up your workflow.
The keyboard shortcuts in this article apply to Windows computers.
Mac keyboard shortcuts
in Excel can often follow the same principle, though the Alt key on a Windows keyboard is often replaced by the Options key on a Mac, and the Windows Ctrl key can be substituted for a Mac’s Cmd key.
Essential Shortcuts
Aside from the well-known Excel keyboard shortcuts, these are the ones I use the most often and save me the most time.
|
Command |
Shortcut |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
Select cells manually |
Shift+arrow keys |
|
|
Select row |
Shift+Space |
After selecting the row, hold Shift and use the up and down arrow keys to select more. |
|
Select column |
Ctrl+Space |
After selecting the column, hold Shift and use the left and right arrow keys to select more. |
|
Insert row or column |
Alt+I, then R to add a row, or C to add a column |
This inserts a row underneath or a column to the right. |
|
Delete row or column |
Ctrl+- |
If the whole row or column is not selected first, you’ll see a dialog box that lets you choose what you want to delete. |
|
Switch between relative, absolute, and mixed references |
F4 |
For this to work, you’ll first need to select the cell containing the formula, and click the cell reference in the formula bar. |
|
Ctrl+T |
Make sure you select a cell in the table before using this shortcut. When the dialog box opens, press Tab and then Spacebar if your table does not contain headers, then press Enter. If it does, skip that middle step and just hit Enter. |
Paste Special
We all know that Ctrl+V is the shortcut for pasting the last thing that was added to the clipboard. However, this pastes everything, including the values, the formatting, and any comments or notes. Excel lets you choose more specifically which elements you want to paste into the selected cell. To access these choices, you need to first launch the Paste Special dialog box, which is why all the shortcuts in the table below start with Ctrl+Alt+V.
|
Command |
Shortcut |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
Paste formatting only |
Ctrl+Alt+V, then T, then Enter |
Useful if you have applied lots of formatting rules to a cell, and you want to duplicate this elsewhere. |
|
Paste values only |
Ctrl+Alt+V, then V, then Enter (or Ctrl+Shift+V) |
This is handy for duplicating data onto another worksheet without the formulas. |
|
Ctrl+Alt+V, then E, then Enter |
Using the transpose tool means that all rows in a table will switch to columns, and vice versa. |
|
|
Paste formula only |
Ctrl+Alt+V, then F, then Enter |
Alternatively, you can press F2, Ctrl+A, and Ctrl+C in the cell containing the formula you want to copy, and then F2 and Ctrl+V where you want to paste it. |
Navigating Your Workbook
These shortcuts are especially useful if you have a large workbook with many sheets containing lots of active rows and columns, or if you plan to work in more than one workbook at a time.
|
Command |
Shortcut |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
Switch to the next tab |
Ctrl+Page Down |
|
|
Switch to the previous tab |
Ctrl+Page Up |
|
|
Go to cell A1 |
Ctrl+Home |
|
|
Open a new workbook |
Ctrl+N |
Then, use Alt+Tab to switch between open workbooks. |
|
Open a new tab |
Shift+F11 |
This opens a new worksheet immediately after the active sheet. |
|
Close the selected workbook window |
Ctrl+F4 |
If you have not named and saved your work, this will first launch the Save dialog box. If you have, this shortcut will close the current workbook, while leaving Excel open. |
Find and Replace
Another way to navigate your workbook is to search for specific items.
|
Command |
Shortcut |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
Find |
Ctrl+F |
The dialog box that opens lets you search by value and formatting, and you can also force Excel to search the whole workbook, rather than just the active sheet. |
|
Ctrl+H |
||
|
Go to |
Ctrl+G |
You can also use the Name Box to locate named items or go to a specific cell reference. The keyboard shortcut for this is Alt+F3. |
Formatting
Since most formatting options in Excel are accessible through the Home tab on the ribbon, you need to use the keyboard shortcut key to activate this option. For this reason, all the commands in this section start with you pressing Alt+H.
|
Command |
Shortcut |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
Increase the number of decimal places |
Alt+H, then 0 |
|
|
Decrease the number of decimal places |
Alt+H, then 9 |
|
|
Apply borders to a cell |
Alt+H, then B |
You’ll then need to press the key that corresponds to the border you want to use. |
|
Align text or numbers in a cell |
Alt+H Then AT, AM, or AB for top, middle or bottom, or AL, AC, or AR for left, center, or right. |
|
|
Alt+H, then M |
First, use Shift+arrow keys to select the cells you want to merge and center. |
Useful Formulas
Yes, you can type =sum, =average, and so on, but for some of the more commonly used formulas, it’s handy to know their shortcuts. First, activate the cell directly to the right or underneath the array you want to apply the calculation to. So, for example, if you’re creating a calculation of the values in cells A1 to A3, activate cell A4, and then use the following keyboard shortcuts.
|
Command |
Shortcut |
|---|---|
|
AutoSum |
Alt+=, then Enter |
|
Average |
Alt+M, then U, A, and Enter |
|
Max |
Alt+M, then U, M, and Enter |
|
Min |
Alt+M, then U, I, and Enter |
|
Count |
Alt+M, then U, C, and Enter |
Creating Charts and Tables
A great way to visualize your data.
|
Command |
Shortcut |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
Format your data as a table |
Ctrl+T |
Make sure you select a cell in the table before using this shortcut. When the dialog box opens, press Tab and then Spacebar if your table does not contain headers, then press Enter. If it does, skip that middle step and just hit Enter. |
|
Insert a chart in the current worksheet |
Alt+F1 |
Make sure you select a cell within the relevant data before using this shortcut. |
|
Insert a chart in a new tab |
F11 |
Make sure you select a cell within the relevant data before using this shortcut. |
|
Begin the pivot table creation process |
Alt+D, then P |
Make sure you select a cell within the relevant data first. This shortcut will launch the Pivot Table And Pivot Chart Wizard window. |
Other Useful Keyboard Shortcuts
Here are some miscellaneous shortcuts that I also find helpful when working in Excel.
|
Key |
Result |
|---|---|
|
Ctrl+A |
Selects the array containing the active cell, and then selects all cells in the worksheet. |
|
Enter |
|
|
Tab |
Moves the cell pointer to the next cell in the row. Tab can also be used to toggle between options in a dialog box, or move through the ribbon after pressing Alt. |
|
F9 |
Performs any calculations in all worksheets that are open. |
Using these keyboard shortcuts isn’t a skill you can add to your workflow overnight—they take time and repetition before they become second nature. However, once you have mastered them, learning some Windows keyboard shortcut keys might be the logical next step, as many can be applied to different programs on your computer.
