Excel Keyboard Shortcuts
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In Microsoft Excel, there are various keyboard shortcuts that help the user speed up the work. As there are many shortcuts, the user can’t remember or memorize all the keyword combos. Each user’s needs vary in everyday life and remembering the required shortcut keys would be widely helpful to the excel users. In this article, we will cover the complete list of shortcut keys in excel.
Excel General Program Shortcut Keys
The shortcut keys in the below table provide the shortcut keys to move around and switch between the worksheets and workbooks. This table comprises basic activity keyboard shortcuts in excel.
| Shortcut Key | Description |
| Ctrl+N | To create a new workbook |
| Ctrl+O | To open an existing workbook |
| Ctrl+S | To save a workbook |
| F12 | To open the Save As dialog box |
| Ctrl+W | To close a workbook |
| Ctrl+F4 | To close Excel |
| Ctrl+Z | To undo an action |
| Ctrl+Y | To redo an action |
| Ctrl+F2 | To switch to Print Preview |
| F1 | To open the Help pane |
| F7 | To check spelling |
| Shift+F11 | To insert a new worksheet |
| Alt+Q | Helps you to navigate to go to the “Tell me what you want to do” box. |
| F9 | To calculate all worksheets in all open workbooks |
| Alt or F10 | Helps you turn key tips on or off. |
| Shift+F9 | To calculate active worksheets |
| F4 | To repeat the last command or action. |
| Ctrl+Shift+U | To expand or collapse the formula bar |
| Ctrl+F9 | To minimize the workbook window |
| Alt+F | To open the File tab menu |
| Alt+H | To go to the Home tab |
| Alt+N | To open the insert tab |
| Alt+P | To go to the Page Layout tab |
| F11 | To create a bar chart based on selected data in a separate sheet. |
| Alt+F1 | To create an embedded bar chart based on select data (same sheet) |
| Ctrl+F | To search in a spreadsheet |
| Alt+M | To go to the Formulas tab |
| Alt+A | To go to the Data tab |
| Alt+R | To go to the Review tab |
| Alt+W | To go to the View tab |
| Alt+X | To go to the Add-ins tab |
| Alt+Y | To go to the Help tab |
| Ctrl+Tab | To switch between open workbooks |
| Shift+F3 | To insert a function |
| Alt+F8 | To create, run, edit, or delete a macro |
| Alt+F11 | To open the Microsoft Visual Basic For Applications Editor |
Shortcut keys for Moving Around in a Worksheet or Cell in Excel
There are shortcut keys to navigate around the worksheet, within a cell and throughout the entire excel.
| Shortcut Key | Description |
| Left Arrow | To move one cell to the left. |
| Right Arrow | To move one cell to the right |
| Ctrl+Left Arrow | To move to the farthest left cell in the row |
| Ctrl+Right Arrow | To move to the farthest right cell in the row |
| Down Arrow | To move one cell down |
| Up Arrow | To move one cell up |
| Ctrl+Down Arrow | To move to the bottom cell in the column |
| Ctrl+Up Arrow | To move to the top cell in the column |
| Tab | To go to the next cell |
| Shift+Tab | To go to the previous cell |
| Ctrl+End | To go to the most bottom right used cell |
| F5 | To go to any cell by pressing F5 and typing the cell coordinate or cell name. |
| Home | To go to the leftmost cell in the current row (or go to the beginning of the cell if editing a cell) |
| Ctrl+Home | To move to the beginning of a worksheet |
| Page Down | To move the cursor down in a worksheet |
| Page Up | To move the cursor up in a worksheet |
| Alt+Page Down | To move the cursor to the right in a worksheet |
| Alt+Page Up | To move the cursor to the left in a worksheet |
| Ctrl+Page Down | To move to the next worksheet |
| Ctrl+Page Up | To move to the previous worksheet |
| End | The user can turn on or off the end mode. |
Excel Keyboard Shortcuts for Selecting Cells
To speed up the selections in excel, the user can use few shortcut keys to rapidly do the work:
| Shortcut Key | Description |
| Shift+Left Arrow | To extend the cell selection to the left |
| Shift + Right Arrow | To extend the cell selection to the right |
| Shift+Space | To select the entire row |
| Ctrl+Space | To select the entire column |
| Ctrl+Shift+Space | To select the entire worksheet |
Shotcut keys in Excel for Editing Cells
The user can also edit the cells in the sheet and the few shortcut keys listed below are the keys to edit the cells in Excel:
| Shortcut Key | Description |
| F2 | To edit a cell |
| Shift+F2 | To add or edit a cell comment |
| Ctrl+X | To cut the contents of a cell or selected cell range. |
| Ctrl+C | To copy the contents of a cell or selected cell range. |
| Ctrl+V | To paste the contents of a cell, selected data, or selected cell range |
| Ctrl+Alt+V | To open the Paste Special dialog box |
| Delete | To remove the contents of a cell. |
| F3 | To paste a cell name if the cells are named in the spreadsheet. |
| Alt+H+D+C | To delete the column |
| Esc | To cancel an entry in a cell or the formula bar. |
| Enter | Click on it when the entry is done completely. |
Excel Shortcut keys for Formatting Cells
Let’s see few shortcut keys to format the cells in Excel:
| Shortcut key | Description |
| Ctrl+B | To add or remove bold to the contents of a cell, selected data, or selected cell range |
| Ctrl+I | To add or remove italics to the contents of a cell, selected data, or selected cell range |
| Ctrl+U | To add or remove underline to the contents of a cell, selected data, or selected cell range |
| Alt+H+H | To select a fill color |
| Alt+H+B | To add a border |
| Ctrl+Shift+& | To apply outline border |
| Ctrl+9 | To hide the selected rows |
| Ctrl+0 | To hide the selected columns |
| Ctrl+1 | To open the Format Cells dialog box |
| Ctrl+5 | To apply or remove strikethrough |
| Ctrl+Shift+$ | To apply currency format |
| Ctrl+Shift+% | To apply percent format |
Excel Shortcuts for Select Special
There are different types of dialog boxes available for different functions. To access the select special category, we can make use of the following shortcut keys.
| Shortcut Keys | Description |
| Ctrl + G | ‘Go To’ Dialog Box |
| Ctrl + Shift + O | Choosing cells with comments |
| Ctrl + Shift + * | Choosing current region around active cell |
| Ctrl + A | Choosing current region |
| Ctrl + / | Choosing current array |
| Ctrl + \ | Choosing row differences |
| Ctrl + Shift + | | Choosing column differences |
| Ctrl + Shift + { | Choosing all precedents |
| Ctrl + Shift + } | Choosing all dependants |
| Alt + ; | Choosing visible cells only |
Shortcut keys in Excel for Number Formatting
Excel can hold a lot of data and those data can be of numeric types. To change the format of the numerics, we can use the following commands as per the requirement.
| Shortcut Keys | Description |
| Ctrl +Shift + ! | Applying number formatting to the cell |
| Ctrl +Shift + @ | Applying time formatting to the cell |
| Ctrl +Shift + % | Applying percentage formatting to the cell |
| Ctrl +Shift + ^ | Applying scientific format to the cell |
| Ctrl +Shift + $ | Applying currency format to the cell |
| Ctrl +Shift + ~ | Applying general format to the cell |
| Ctrl +Shift + # | Applying date format to the cell |
Excel Shortcuts for Borders
The Excel users can also add borders to the tables in Excel and they can also make changes in the border by using the following commands.
| Shortcut Keys | Description |
| Ctrl + Shift + & | Adding Border outline |
| Alt + R | Adding or Removing Border right |
| Alt + L | Adding or Removing Border Left |
| Alt + T | Adding or Removing Border Top |
| Alt + B | Adding or Removing Border Bottom |
| Alt + H | Adding or Removing horizontal interior border |
| Alt + V | Adding or Removing vertical interior border |
| Ctrl + Shift | Adding or Removing Borders |
| Alt + D | Adding or Removing upward diagonal Border |
Excel Keyboard Shortcuts for Formulas
There are enormous formulas available in MS-Excel and they can be accessed by using the following commands.
| Shortcut Keys | Description |
| F4 | Toggling between absolute and relative referencing |
| Shift + F3 | To open the insert function dialog box |
| Alt+= | To autosum the selected cells |
| Ctrl + ‘ | Toggling formulas between on and off |
| Ctrl +Shift + A | Inserting function arguments |
| Ctrl + Shift + Enter | Entering array formula |
| F9 | Calculating the worksheets |
| Shift + F9 | Calculating the active worksheet |
| Ctrl + Alt + F9 | Force calculating all worksheets |
| Ctrl + Shift + U | Expanding or collapsing the formula bar |
| Ctrl + F3 | Opening the name manager |
| F3 | Pasting the name into formula |
| Ctrl + Shift + F3 | Defining the name using the row and column labels |
Excel Keyboard Shortcuts Keys for Grid Operations
The grid operations help the user to differentiate between the specific cells and few shortcut keys to access the grid operations are
| Shortcut Keys | Description |
| Ctrl + Shift + + | To Insert the Rows and Columns |
| Ctrl – | To delete either the columns or rows |
| Ctrl + 0 | To hide the columns |
| Ctrl + 9 | To hide the rows |
| Delete | Deleting the contents of chosen cells |
| Ctrl + Shift + 9 | Unhide Rows |
| Ctrl + Shift + 0 | Unhide Columns |
| Alt + Shift + Right Arrow | Grouping the rows or columns |
| Alt + Shift + Left Arrow | Ungrouping the rows or columns |
| Ctrl + 8 | To hide or unhide outline symbols |
| Ctrl + Alt + + | To Zoom in |
| Ctrl + Alt – | To Zoom out |
| Ctrl + Scroll | To Zoom scroll |
Shortcut keys in Excel for Pivot Tables
Pivot tables in excel help the user to summarize the data and the following are the keyboard shortcuts to access the pivot table features.
| Shortcut Keys | Description |
| Ctrl + A | To select the entire pivot table |
| Space | Toggling between pivot table field checkbox |
| Alt + Shift + Right Arrow | Grouping the table items |
| Alt + Shift + Left Arrow | Ungrouping the table items |
| Ctrl – | Hiding the pivot table item |
| Alt + F1 | Creating the pivot chart on same worksheet |
| F11 | Creating the pivot chart on new worksheet |
| Alt + D + P | To open the pivot table wizard |
Other Excel Shortcut Keys
The following shortcut keys are some of the other shortcut keys to access other commands in excel.
| Shortcut Keys | Description |
| F7 | To open spelling dialog box |
| Shift + F7 | To open thesaurus dialog box |
| Alt + F8 | To open macro dialog box |
| Alt + F11 | To open the VBA editor |
| Ctrl + D | To set up the duplicate object |
| Ctrl + 6 | To hide or show objects |
| Shift + F10 | To display right click menu |
| Shift + F10 + D | To delete a comment |
| Alt + Space | To display the control menu |
Summary
The article contains different keyboard shortcuts for different uses in Excel. Each and every user cannot remember every shortcut but they could remember the shortcut keys which could fasten up their work in Excel. This is where the shortcut keys come in handy to the users.
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