Microsoft Excel: Cool Keyboard Shortcuts

For frequent Microsoft Excel users, keyboard shortcuts can really improve your productivity! Learn the most popular and useful keyboard shortcuts in our cool tutorial.

Author: Keynote Support

A couple of facts to remember: 1) The + sign in the descriptions below means "and," so don't press the + key on your keyboard; and 2) don't try to press the keys at the same time ... just press and hold the first key while you press the second key.

Important Note: Some shortcut descriptions refer to a "selected" cell. To select a cell, click in the cell. To select multiple cells, press and hold the left mouse button in a corner cell, drag the cursor horizontally and/or vertically to the end of the area, and release the mouse button. For more information about selecting cells, visit the "Selecting Cells" section of our tutorial Excel Made Easy: A Beginner's Guide.

If you are interested in a list of cool keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Word, please see our tutorial Word and WordPad Keyboard Shortcuts.

OK! Let's learn some cool keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Excel!

Moving Between Cells

Enter  ⇒ Finalize a cell entry and move to the cell below..

Shift + Enter  ⇒ Finalize a cell entry and move to the cell above..

Tab  ⇒ Finalize a cell entry and move one cell to the right..

Shift + Tab  ⇒ Finalize a cell entry and move one cell to the left.

Working With Data in Cells

ESC  ⇒ Cancel a cell entry. Remove squiggy lines after a Copy.

Ctrl + Z or Alt + Backspace  ⇒ Undo the last action. Can be pressed multiple times to undo multiple actions.

Ctrl + Y  ⇒ Redo the last action.

Ctrl + K  ⇒ Insert a hyperlink.

Double-click in a cell or Click + F2  ⇒ Edit cell contents directly in the cell.

Ctrl + D  ⇒ Fills down. Type a value in a cell and press Enter. Then click in the cell and, keeping the left mouse button pressed, move down the column x number of cells and release. Press Ctrl + D, and the value in the first cell copies to the other cells.

Ctrl + R  ⇒ Fills right. Type a value in a cell and press Enter. Then click in the cell and, keeping the left mouse button pressed, move to the right x number of cells and release. Press Ctrl + R, and the value in the first cell copies to the other cells.

Ctrl + `  ⇒ Toggles between Excel displaying cell values and displaying cell formulas. This is helpful if you need to repeat a formula you typed elsewhere in the worksheet and can't remember it. The left apostrophe key is located to the left of the number 1 on many keyboards.

Ctrl + 1  ⇒ Excel opens the Format Cells window.

Ctrl + C  ⇒ Copy the selection to the Clipboard.

Ctrl + V  ⇒ Paste the selection from the Clipboard.

Ctrl + X  ⇒ Cut the selection.

Ctrl + Spacebar  ⇒ Select the entire column.

Shift + Spacebar  ⇒ Select the entire row.

Ctrl + A  ⇒ Select all cells in the spreadsheet.

Ctrl + B  ⇒ Format the selection with Bold.

Ctrl + I  ⇒ Format the selection with Italics.

Ctrl + U  ⇒ Underscore (underline) the selection.

Ctrl + ;  ⇒ Ctrl plus a semicolon inserts the current date from your computer.

Ctrl + Shift + :  ⇒ Ctrl plus the colon key inserts the current time from your computer.

Ctrl + ; (press the spacebar) Ctrl + Shift + :  ⇒ These two shortcuts together, separated by a space, insert the date and time in a cell.

Alt + 0162 (numeric keypad only)  ⇒ Enter the ¢ (cent) symbol in a cell.

Alt + 0128 (numeric keypad only)  ⇒ Enter the € (euro) symbol in a cell.

Alt + 0163 (numeric keypad only)  ⇒ Enter the £ (pound sterling) symbol in a cell.

Alt + 0165 (numeric keypad only)  ⇒ Enter the ¥ (yen) symbol in a cell.

Moving Around the Excel Worksheet

Home  ⇒ Move to the beginning of the row.

Ctrl + Home  ⇒ Move to the beginning of the worksheet.

Ctrl + End  ⇒ Move to the bottom right corner of the worksheet.

Alt + Page Down  ⇒ Move one screen to the right.

Alt + Page Up  ⇒ Move one screen to the left.

Working With Excel Workbooks

Ctrl + F  ⇒ Open the Find window.

Ctrl + H  ⇒ Open the Replace window.

Ctrl + S  ⇒ Save the workbook or Excel file. Get into the habit of pressing this key sequence often so you won't accidentally lose your work.

Ctrl + P  ⇒ Open the Print window.

Ctrl + W or Alt + F4  ⇒ Close the workbook or Excel file.

Ctrl + O  ⇒ Open an existing workbook or Excel file.

Ctrl + N  ⇒ Open a new workbook or Excel file.

We hope this article has been helpful. By the way, if you need to learn Microsoft Excel and are interested in a video-based course, we recommend Excel 2010 Tutorial for Beginners. It's well-done. Cheers!

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